Shipwrecked
by xXdarkblossomXx
Summary: Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura were all on their way to another country for a mission. What happens when their ship wrecks and they get stranded on an island? Will romance bloom while they are struggling to live there? SasuSaku, NaruHina
1. Chapter 1

Do any of you know that Sims Castaway game? Anyways, I got that this past Christmas and decided to write a story about Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and Sakura all getting stranded on an island together. I'm not sure how long it will take me to update this story, but I already have a couple chapters written. This is just a fun story for me to write in my spare time. The pairing are NaruHina and SasuSaku.

And just to warn you, Hinata is a bit OOC. She and Sakura have been best friends for a long time, and Sakura has kind of changed Hinata's personality a bit. Hinata doesn't like Sasuke because he had broken Sakura's heart, but now he is back in Konoha. You will understand what happened throughout the story, because I explain it in there. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

-Chapter One-

Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga latched onto each other, screaming in fright. An incoming wave towered over the boat they were on.

"I hope you all can swim!" Naruto Uzumaki yelled over the pounding of the rain on the wooden boat. His best friend and rival, Sasuke Uchiha, merely stood there, arms crossed, with an annoyed expression plastered on his face.

The four shinobi had been sent on a mission to another country, which required them to travel only a little ways across the ocean on a boat. About halfway to their destination a storm rolled in, the waves becoming untamed and violent.

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had all been on the same three man team when they were twelve. Only months later, Sasuke left to gain power then get revenge against his brother Itachi, who had killed their whole clan when they were younger. Sakura, who had loved him, got her heart broken the night he left and was never the same lovesick girl since then. Hinata Hyuga had been on a different team, but had a huge crush on Naruto, too shy to admit it though. As the years passed, Sakura and Hinata became best friends, confiding in one another and comforting one another. Naruto's crush on Sakura faded away and he started to take a liking to the Hyuga female. Sasuke came back at the age of seventeen after getting his revenge, and everything was almost the same as it had been before he left, except for Sakura obsessing over him. She still loved him, but knew she couldn't ever admit it again; it would only hurt her more.

Just yesterday the four had been assigned their new mission, and it was already a disaster. The wave crashed up onto the deck, sending the four ninja overboard, Hinata and Sakura getting ripped away from each other in the process.

The two girls shrieked the names of their comrades, but were only met with the sound of the wind and rain. Sakura squinted through the rain, seeing a messy head full of blonde hair.

"Naruto!" she screamed, starting to swim towards the figure. Another large wave had formed, and upon seeing this, Sakura's green eyes widened.

Hinata, who could not see anything and did not know where her friends were, was slammed with the wave, causing her to sink under the surface of the water. Her eyes were open and able to just barely make out the cloudy dark gray sky hanging above the water. Using all her strength, she reached up towards it, but found her muscles aching from the power of the wave hitting them.

Sasuke could not believe how bad the mission was going. He found it to be the most nerve racking mission he had ever been assigned. Trying to fight against the waves, he swam towards the direction he thought his friends would be in. A wave took him under, and as he sank, he crossed his arms and glared through the salty water that stung his eyes.

It was only a matter of minutes before each of them lost consciousness, hoping this was not the way they end their life.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Pearl-colored eyes fluttered open and were greeted by a pair of cerulean orbs. The female rolled onto her stomach, supporting herself with her arms, and coughed up the remaining water in her throat.

She could feel a warm hand resting gently on her back as she coughed. Naruto helped her to her feet when the coughing had subsided, helping Hinata balance herself. Sasuke was standing only a few feet away, eyes closed and arms crossed.

"N-Naruto!" Hinata, breathed, restraining herself from flinging her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're alright!" The blonde man grinned, letting out a short laugh.

Hinata searched the length of the beach they had washed up on, a shiver crawling up her spine. Heart pounding, she asked hesitantly, "Where is Sakura?"

Naruto's grin slowly faded, being replaced by a frown. When she got no response from her crush, her head snapped over to gaze at Sasuke for the answer. Sighing heavily, the man opened his eyes slowly. "We don't know," he replied quietly, holding Hinata's gaze with his onyx eyes.

Tears started to collect at the corners of the Hyuga woman's eyes. "I hope she's alright," Hinata whispered. She was quite startled when Naruto wrapped an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. As the tears started to escape her eyes and slide down her cheeks, she leaned against Naruto for support.

"So do I. Sakura is strong, I'm sure she is fine. She's probably somewhere on this island."

"Naruto is right," Sasuke said, an edge of some unknown emotion in his voice. "She's probably fine and not too far away."

"You actually sound worried about her," Hinata spat. "For once in your life."

The raven-haired man's eyes narrowed. "She's a close friend, just like Naruto. Of course I'm a little bit worried that we could find her washed up on shore somewhere, cold and dead!" Hinata cringed at his words, trying to hold back the sobs rising within her.

"Sasuke," Naruto said sharply, shaking his head. His arm tightened around Hinata as she started to shake from her crying.

Sasuke walked off and started to gather driftwood as Naruto continued to comfort the crying woman. Once Naruto had reassured Hinata that Sakura was probably alive and looking for them, they trudged over and sat around the fire Sasuke had built.

The three stared blankly ahead of them, the bright fire dancing right before their eyes. Suddenly, Naruto's stomach growled so loudly that it made the three of them jump. The blonde chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"I'm kind of hungry," he admitted.

"We could eat fruit," Sasuke suggested, pondering for a moment. "But then again, it wouldn't fill us up very much. We need some kind of meat."

Two pairs of eyes were resting on Naruto, waiting for him to suggest something. The man scooted away from his friends, blue eyes wide. "Don't eat me!" Hinata and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, wondering why he had assumed they were going to have him for dinner.

"Why would we eat you?" Sasuke snapped.

"You were both looking at me after suggesting to eat meat." The man started waving his hands around as he explained. "I heard from somewhere that when people shipwreck they end up eating other people. I thought you two wouldn't resort to eating me, but when you both stared at me like that, it made me uneasy."

Both dark-haired ninja sighed and shook their heads before gazing at their surroundings, looking for a source of food.

"We could collect clams and catch fish!" Hinata exclaimed, jumping to her feet. It was only seconds later that Naruto and Hinata were searching the ocean floor, collecting clams from under rocks. Sasuke was content just sitting by the fire, and the other two were so busy scrounging for food that they didn't seem to notice him still sitting by the fire. Finally, he got up and started flinging kunai at fish as they jumped out of the water.

The twenty-year-old Uchiha had collected a fish for each of them, so he took his place by the fire once again.

Hinata and Naruto were finding a large amount of clams and were almost done searching for the time being. As the sun loomed over the water, Hinata caught a glimpse of something shining under the sand. Swiping her hand over the area, she picked up a small piece of a jade gem. As if it had hurt her when she came in contact with the gem, her arm recoiled quickly. The color had reminded her of her best friend's eyes.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sakura blinked again, hoping she would wake up this time if it was a nightmare. When her emerald eyes opened, her feet were still planted in the soft, warm sand of a beach.

"Hinata!" the pink-haired woman called, searching the beach frantically. "Sasuke!" A sigh of despair seeped from her mouth. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she called for Naruto, knowing none of them were around.

The nineteen-year-old went into denial mode, telling herself she was not stranded on an island all alone. She slammed her fist into the ground, cracking it, but she still had so much anger to vent. Eyes narrowing, she targeted a coconut tree as her next victim. Forcefully, she kicked the trunk of the thin tree. In return, a large brown coconut dropped and hit her on the head before the whole tree fell over.

Profanities sliced through the mostly silent atmosphere. Clutching her head, Sakura's knees hit the sand. Tears streaming down her cheeks from pain, mostly her hopelessness, she forced her green eyes open. Lying behind a group of hibiscus flowers was a skeleton, the head turned so that it was facing in her direction. The woman took in a few shaky breaths before screaming shrilly and fainting.

* * *

I hope you all liked the first chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought. Since I have the next chapter written it won't be too terribly long before I update!


	2. Chapter 2

Yay, I'm updating! I just want to thank everyone that read the first chapter and I really appreciate the people who reviewed it. Thank you! I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

-Chapter Two-

Sasuke's head turned in the direction he had heard a faint scream come from. Naruto and Hinata were just resurfacing the water as Sasuke bolted off.

"Where is he going?" Hinata called to her crush. The blonde man shrugged before swimming up to the shore, multiple clams in his hands and pockets. Joining him on the shore, Hinata and Naruto made their way over to the fire and sat down.

Finding two sticks buried in the sand at her side, Hinata put the meat of a clam on one and handed the other stick to Naruto. "After we eat, we're going to look for Sakura," Hinata announced, voice firm and steady. "Knowing her, she probably threw a fit as soon as she realized she was stranded on an island not knowing where we were."

The two laughed, picturing the scene in their heads. Their friend had always had quite a temper. Sakura would get angry about the smallest things and throw a huge fit about it.

Popping the cooked clam meat into his mouth, Naruto chewed it thoughtfully. As he swallowed, a disgusted expression dominated his face.

"I miss my ramen," he whined, eyes cast towards the ground.

Shaking her head full of dark hair, Hinata handed him another piece of clam meat to cook. "You better get used to this, because you're going to be eating it for a while. Who knows how long we'll be stuck on this island."

A gust of chilly air made the two shiver. The sun was casting its last rays of the day upon this ocean water, the gentle waves a shimmering orange and red color.

"It might get cold tonight." Hinata scooted a bit closer to the fire, trying to keep herself warm. "It's the beginning of March, meaning it's still winter. Tropical islands are really hot in the daytime and can get fairly cold at nighttime, especially in the winter. After we find Sakura it would be wise to try and find something to cover up with."

Scooting all the way around the fire, Naruto stopped when one of his arms was pressed against Hinata's. Out of the corner of her eye, she stared at him, pink rising to her cheeks. His eyes shifted to look at her, pink also tinting his own cheeks as he let out a couple of small laughs, his hand reaching back to scratch his head.

"If we huddle together we can stay warmer," he explained. Quickly, Hinata turned her head the opposite direction of him and smiled broadly, the shade of her complexion becoming darker.

In silence, the two continued to cook food and eat, enjoying the presence of the other. Even though they were enjoying their moment together, the thought of Sakura kept nipping at the back of their minds.

Another scary thought also flashed through Hinata's mind. "Naruto, how are we going to get home?" The man only had to think for a second before replying, "We'll focus the chakra to our feet and run home."

Cringing and closing her eyes, Hinata shook her head slightly. "Naruto, we don't know which direction home is in. Also, we probably wouldn't have enough chakra to get there and the waves also get really violent further out at sea."

The man remained silent for a moment. Finally, he replied, "We'll find a way, Hinata."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sasuke hovered over his pink-haired comrade, waiting for her to regain consciousness. As he recalled, it was not unusual for her to be unconscious, so he wasn't particularly concerned. He was just relieved she still had a strong pulse.

The woman let out a painful whimper as she started to stir. Without opening her eyes, a hand shot up to her head to rub where the coconut had hit.

"Hey," Sasuke said quietly, still hovering over her.

_That's Sasuke's voice,_ Sakura thought to herself. When her gaze met his, she smiled widely before yelling, "Sasuke! You're alive!"

Hearing those words and observing the situation, the man braced himself for one of her hugs. A second passed and the only thing she did was continue to smile up at him. Mentally, he slapped himself. Why would he assume she was going to hug him? Ever since he had returned to Konoha three years back, he and Sakura have had no physical contact whatsoever. This situation had started out the same as what had happened at their first training session as a team and ended differently. Sasuke wasn't sure if he liked that or not.

The two stood up and looked around the beach Sakura had destroyed. Chuckling, Sakura continued to rub her head.

A sudden thought rushing to her mind, she blurted out, "Naruto and Hinata, are they alright? Have you seen them?"

She received a firm nod from the Uchiha. "They're fine. They were underwater searching for food when you screamed, so I came alone."

Sighing, the woman was very relieved to hear this bit of news. "I'm hungry," she announced loudly, and as if confirming the statement, her stomach rumbled.

Reaching into his pocket, Sasuke brought out a papaya and some rum berries. He dropped the fruits into her small hands and watched with wide eyes as she stuffed almost everything in her mouth at once. After swallowing, she ate the last half of the papaya she hadn't already devoured.

His stomach growled loud enough for her to hear. "Are you hungry?" she asked, her mouth still full of papaya.

"I haven't eaten yet and I gave you all the food I had brought."

Raising her eyebrows, Sakura chewed for another second. "There's still some left," she said, opening her mouth enough for him to see the mashed papaya. Twitching, he clutched his stomach and turned away from her.

"I think I just lost my appetite," he mumbled, starting to stride towards the forest. The pink-haired woman, smiling wickedly, scampered after him.

* * *

Well, that's the end of the second chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review, I really enjoy reading what you all have to say about what I write. 


	3. Chapter 3

Update! Thank you to everyone that has read this story and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to everyone that has reviewed it. Please keep reading and reviewing!

Hinata is going to be OOC in this chapter. She's going to be OOC a lot in this story since I'm basing Hinata and Sakura's friendship on mine and my very best friends' friendship. So...Sakura is kind of like me and Hinata is kind of like my best friend. Just so you know ahead of time.

Also, don't forget, in the last chapter Hinata was talking about how it was in March, so it would be hot in the daytime and cold at nighttime. I'm not sure if it's really like that on islands, but this island is going to be that way...so yeah.

One more thing...I know you just want to read the chapter...but...I want to let you know that their ages confuse me. I mean...since you don't know what year the Naruto characters were born in, how are you supposed to know who is the oldest and who is the youngest? So...I just made Sasuke the oldest, then Naruto, then Hinata, and lastly Sakura. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

-Chapter Three-

Teeth chattering, Hinata heaved a sigh. "I've b-been ready to look for Sakura f-for a long t-time now. Can't we just g-go without S-Sasuke?"

The two shinobi were practically sitting in the fire because they were so cold. Naruto could only shake his head, his teeth were chattering too badly for him to respond. The woman started to rub her arms, hoping the friction would create even the slightest amount of heat.

"W-Where is he a-anyways?" she asked as her teeth continued to chatter.

Squinting over the fire, Naruto tried to figure out what was over there. Seconds later, Sasuke and Sakura appeared, both wrapped up in banana tree leaves to try and keep warm.

"Sakura!" he screamed in delight. He would have got up to hug her, but found himself shaking too violently to move. Hinata managed to spring to her feet and tackle her best friend to the ground in a hug.

"I was so worried about you!" the woman cried, her hold on her friend tightening.

It took hardly any time for Sasuke to plop down by the fire and cook a fish to eat. The two females of the group went over by Naruto, each one taking a seat on either side of him. Affectionately, Sakura smacked the back of his head gently as a greeting, causing him to grin.

"We should get some sleep," Sakura muttered. Naruto and Hinata fell back at the same time, not leaving their spot around the fire. Sakura covered each of them up as well as she could with some of the banana leaves she had collected, then laid down beside Naruto and covered herself up.

Sasuke sat on the other side of the fire; envying the amount of heat they probably had by now. Of course he had some banana leaves to cover up with, but they also had each other's body heat.

"You're welcome to join us, you know," Sakura told him, knowing he was glaring at them all from across the blazing fire. She heard him snort, and then heard his body hit the sandy ground as he flopped over.

Smiling weakly, she rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. Even if he was turning blue from freezing to death he would probably never join their little huddle. Sasuke had always been independent, and Sakura figured he always would be.

Feeling Naruto shift and then the sound of a zipper, Sakura glanced over curiously. A smile spread across her face when she saw him draping his orange jacket over Hinata's shaking body.

Still smiling, she rested her head back down on the ground, soon falling into a peaceful sleep as did the rest of them.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto stared down at his friend, nudging her in the side with his foot. Sakura groaned and rolled onto her stomach. _Nudge. Nudge nudge nudge._ Sakura's hand shot out and her slim fingers wrapped around his ankle.

"Nudge me one more time and I will break all the bones in your leg," she growled fiercely. Backing away, Naruto sighed deeply. His pink-haired friend was usually up by sunrise, busying herself with something.

Hinata pounced on her friend, starting to poke her and tickle her sides to wake her up. The youngest of the group shrieked and giggled before shoving her best friend away and jumping to her feet. "This was the one day I wanted to try and sleep in and you all make me wake up early," she whined, crossing her arms over her chest.

Drawing a kunai, Hinata announced, "I'm going to go harvest food and maybe things we can use to build a shelter." Scurrying off, she left the former Team Seven alone by the fire, which had been relit by Sasuke earlier that morning.

Naruto walked over to the trees that overlooked the beach and gathered three coconuts up in his arms. He tossed one to Sasuke, and then held one out for Sakura.

"You want to know what I think of coconuts?" she snarled, snatching it away from him. After dropping it on the ground, the woman slammed her heel down on it, pieces of coconut flying into the air and landing a couple feet away. She didn't seem to care that she was standing in coconut milk; the only thing she cared about was making sure the coconut was demolished. "That is what I think of coconuts. I have never liked them and I certainly never will."

The blonde had cracked the coconut he was holding and drew it away from his mouth after taking a swig of the milk. "Why do you hate them so much? What have they ever done to you?"

"They gave me brain damage!" Sakura yelled, throwing her arms up in the air. Eyebrows knitting together in question, Naruto took another sip of the coconut milk.

"Well, it's not like you didn't have brain damage before that," Sasuke mumbled, mostly to himself. Luckily, Sakura merely shot him a fierce glare, her inner self screaming, "_I'll give _you_ brain damage!_" As Naruto started to snicker, the woman whacked him on the head, yelling, "Shut up, you idiot!" She then kicked sand into the fire to get back at Sasuke for his previous comment. With a large puff of smoke emitting from the fire pit, the flames died down until they completely went out.

Flipping her bubble gum colored hair over a shoulder; she turned and walked off into the forest. Naruto rubbed his head as Sasuke shook the sand off the logs in the fire pit then lit it once again using one of his fire jutsu.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Hyuga female's face twitched once again as Sakura repeatedly asked a monkey if it wanted a banana in a sickly sweet and high-pitched voice.

"Do you want a banana?" Sakura giggled, waving the fruit clutched in her hand. "Do you? Do you want a banana?" Blackish-brown eyes wide, the monkey bounced up and down. "You do? You want a banana?"

Throwing her handful of vines onto the ground, Hinata spun around, an irritated expression gracing her face. "Just give the monkey the banana!" she shouted, knuckles turning white from clutching the kunai too tightly.

Shrugging, Sakura handed the yellow food to the monkey and sat down in front of it. Hinata went back to collecting vines.

"That is my best friend," Sakura told the monkey, jabbing a finger in Hinata's direction. "We are ninja, and we were assigned a mission. We got shipwrecked and are stranded here with two men, Naruto and Sasuke."

Chomping loudly, the monkey gazed at the woman that had given him his favorite food. It was only a matter of time before Sakura got wrapped up in a conversation with the monkey.

"Hinata has liked Naruto for as long as I can remember, sometime before we even became friends. I hated it when he would obsess over me, it was so annoying. Now he thinks of me like a sister to him. I think he likes Hinata now, and I'm not quite sure why he isn't obsessing over her. Maybe he changed more than I thought he did when he left with the Toad Sage, Jiraiya. He came back two years later a lot stronger. I admit that he was really good-looking, but I still didn't have feelings for him like that. He was still so immature, yet I was sometimes too."

Hinata could hear Sakura pause then stifle giggles, knowing she was thinking back to the first time she had accidently let her perverted side show in front of people.

"Anyways," Sakura said, the suppressed giggles causing her voice to sound tight, "Naruto and Hinata would make a really cute couple. Don't you agree?"

Smiling widely, the monkey nodded obnoxiously, agreeing even though he didn't know who Naruto was. Letting out a small laugh, the woman handed the monkey another banana so that he would continue to listen to her talk.

Opening her mouth, she was about to say something, but then suddenly shut it and frowned. After a second she asked, "Do you like coconuts?" The monkey shook its head back and forth slowly as it chewed on the food. "Good, because they are evil."

The primate then, with its free hand, pointed at Sakura then pounded its chest. Trying to figure out what it was saying, Sakura asked slowly, "Who do I like?" After getting a nod in response she heaved a sigh and glanced up towards the sky, as if thinking of how to explain the story. "I happen to like the other person that is stranded on the island with us. You know, Sasuke." Various emotions flitted across her face as she pondered. "You know, I have a lot to say about him. I have loved him for a really long time and he never gave me a chance. He was always calling me annoying and glaring at me, but of course I usually said something wrong to earn this cruel behavior. I eventually became his friend, I guess, but one night he decided to leave the village despite the great friends he had gained. I tried to stop him, poured my heart out, and you want to know what happened?"

The monkey glanced off to the side, and then nodded hesitantly. Sakura threw her hands in the air, one side of her nose scrunched up in disgust. "He almost teasingly called me annoying while smirking then started to walk off again! When I started raising my voice and telling him that I was going to scream, which would attract the unwanted attention of people in the village, he thanked me then knocked me out! If that is what I get for telling him I love him, then I am never going to say it again. I still don't even know what he thanked me for, and it has been bothering me ever since he said it!" A shrill and frustrated sigh rang through the forest.

Hinata shook her head. She had heard this rant so many times that it made her sick to hear it again. The woman hated to even think about what had happened because it angered her. Ever since Sasuke had left, Hinata had hated him for what he did to Sakura. Even though the event was what had brought the two to become close friends, Hinata still wished it hadn't have even happened. She was sure she and Sakura would have become friends some other way. It wasn't pleasant being around someone that cried daily, trained too hard to occupy their mind from hurtful thoughts, and shied away from people.

Hinata wasn't sure what Sakura would be like if she hadn't had helped her. A year after Sasuke had left; the woman seemed to act like her normal self again, except with more determination and confidence than ever.

"Sakura, I don't think the monkey knows what you're saying," Hinata said softly, turning to look at her flushed friend.

Blinking rapidly for a moment, Sakura's head snapped over to gaze at her friend. "You're probably right, but I still have a lot to say about him." Directing her attention back to the monkey, Sakura raised her eyebrows, a bitter smile forming on her face. "Sasuke is the most arrogant and egotistical man alive, and he doesn't care how other people feel. He's stubborn and rude, a person with way too much pride. He thinks he knows everything, that he is better than everyone else."

Hinata turned around once again to cast an agreeing look at her friend, but her pearl-colored eyes widened. All of them had failed to realize that Sasuke had wandered into the forest and came to stand behind Sakura, arms crossed with a menacing look upon his face.

When the monkey saw this terrifying look, it let out a high-pitched shriek and ran off. Sakura slumped over, confused and sad.

"Why did you run away?" she whined to the monkey that was already so far away it couldn't hear. Emerald eyes throwing her friend a glance, she realized something was behind her. A shiver ran up her spine as she turned slowly to find Sasuke standing there.

"Do you have anything else to say?" he spat angrily at her. He would never admit to anyone that those words had really hurt. The pink-haired woman cringed, feeling quite guilty about saying those things loudly and carelessly, as Sasuke took in every word.

Slowly, she got to her feet, casting her gaze towards the ground. "I'm sorry," she whispered, scraping the ground with the tip of her foot nervously. Sasuke's harsh expression slowly but surely melted away as Sakura started to sniffle. "I was telling the monkey about you and I and I ended up getting mad at you, so I said all those mean things about you to make myself feel better." Brushing the back of her hand across her cheeks, she wiped the tears away.

"Sakura," he started, brushing past her and starting to walk towards another area of the island. He paused for a moment, looking back over his shoulder. "You're annoying."

* * *

Sakura talking to a monkey is kind of strange, I know. But, oh well. You're supposed to in the game. And this monkey is going to be...like...a genius monkey. It will be able to understand humans and communicate with them, but just can't use words. The whole, "do you want a banana" thing was based on my saying, "do you want a pillow". My best friend was sleeping over one night and we were about to go to sleep and I asked her if she wanted a pillow. She ignored me, so I started harassing her in a really high-pitched voice, repeatedly asking if she wanted a pillow. LOL.

Please review, I love hearing what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

I'm finally updating! Sorry if the characters seem weird or extremely OOC, but being stranded on an island can really mess with your mind, as I have read about in books. Thank you to everyone that reads this and thank you so much to the people that review!

* * *

-Chapter Four-

Naruto finally blinked, defeated once again at a staring contest with a crab. "One more time," Naruto said, watching as the crab blinked, which was the signal to start. His eyes were starting to dry out but the crab ended up blinking. "I won!" The blonde man laughed as his opponent scurried off down the beach.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura called, coming to sit beside him on the beach. Taking one look at his friend, he could tell she had been crying. After demanding for her to lie down, he tore a long piece of his pant leg off and dipped it into the ocean water. Returning to Sakura's side, he placed the cloth on her now normal sized forehead. Sitting just above her head, he placed his palms on the sides of it and pressed, knowing she would have a headache from her crying. The kunoichi had always been emotional and moody, she cried about the smallest things. She had toughened up once she reached sixteen, but she still cried occasionally, it was only human. Often times Naruto had soothed her headaches by putting pressure on her head.

"Thanks," the woman whispered.

A growl rumbled within the man as he asked, "What did he do this time?"

After contemplating for a moment, Sakura answered firmly, "It was my fault." By her tone of voice Naruto knew the subject was not open for discussion.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sasuke ventured around the unexplored area of the island, observing plants and collecting driftwood and anything else he thought necessary to have. He was trying to busy himself enough to keep his mind off of everything Sakura had said about him.

_She's even my friend,_ Sasuke told himself, shaking his head. The people that were closest to him even thought his personality was terrible. The man had always known he was anti-social and cold, but he never knew his personality was _that_ bad, and hearing it from a friend made it all sound even worse.

Unaware of his visitor, Sasuke continued to busy himself. When something collided with his head, the man fell over, cursing under his breath. A coconut was sitting at his side when he looked around to see what had hit him. Picking it up, he angrily threw it into a large rock only a few feet away, but the coconut was so sturdy that it failed to crack.

Unfortunately, the item bounced back and hit him in the forehead, knocking him over onto his back. Sasuke swore loudly, clutching his head in his hands.

Timidly, a monkey made its way over to him, smiling widely. Once Sasuke had stopped swearing and focused his eyes on the primate, he recognized it as the monkey Sakura had been talking to.

"Did you throw that the first time?" Sasuke asked quietly, trying to contain his anger. The monkey glanced from side to side before looking him directly in the eyes and laughing. The man bolted into a sitting position, growling, with his bloodline trait, the Sharingan, activated. "What did you do that for, you stupid monkey?"

The brown animal backed away a few feet, terrified. It finally gained enough courage to face him. Pointing a finger at the man, the monkey let out what sounded like an angry squeal.

"Why are _you_ mad at _me_?" Sasuke yelled.

Primates were actually very smart; they understood what you told them most of the time. The monkey pretended to flip hair over its shoulder, indicating it was talking about a female. Then it pounded its chest, pointed at Sasuke, and then fell over.

At first, Sasuke was very confused. After having a little time to think, he knew what the monkey was trying to say, and was a bit scared that he even understood. "You're mad because I knocked Sakura out?" A stiff nod was directed at him from the monkey. "That was a long time ago, you know. Is that what she was telling you about? That's why she got so mad at me?"

Crossing its arms, the monkey nodded once again. Rolling his onyx eyes, Sasuke sighed. "I thought she would have gotten over that by now." As a result of those words, Sasuke received a handful of sand thrown at his face. Coughing, the man brushed the sand off his face and spit it out of his mouth.

Scrambling to his feet, the man picked up a handful of sand and threw it at the monkey to get back at him. "Just go away! I doubt you even know the half of what happened that night! You don't know how hard it was to make that decision, so just go away!" Comfortingly, the monkey walked up to him and patted his leg, as if feeling guilty. "Naruto and Sakura meant a lot me, you know. I never said I didn't care, I just didn't show how much I cared for them. Even our teacher, Kakashi Hatake, meant a lot to me. Sakura was right that night when she said our missions together as a team had been fun, even if it was considered work."

Hearing the edge of sadness in the man's voice, the monkey hugged his legs, then shook its head sympathetically as is backed away a few steps.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke threw his hands up in the air. "What is wrong with me? I'm having a conversation with a stupid monkey!" Grinning, the monkey laughing loudly. The man walked over to a banana tree and plucked one of the fruits off.

Hinata bounded onto the beach just in time to see the man toss the banana to the primate, the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Thanks for listening to me, you stupid monkey," Sasuke muttered. Turning, Sasuke saw Hinata, then froze. Smirking weakly, the woman shook her head. Crossing his arms, the man snapped, "What? That monkey seriously understands what you're saying!"

"Whatever," Hinata grumbled, jabbing her thumb behind her in the direction of the forest. "We should start heading back. It's getting close to nighttime."

Without waiting, Hinata turned and started walking back towards the forest, Sasuke trailing slowly after her.

* * *

Yes, Sasuke is also talking to the monkey. I told you being stranded on an island could mess with your mind. And yes, it really is a genius monkey. Thanks for reading, and please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Yay, update! I just want to say thanks to all the people who read this. Thank you so much to everyone that reviews, I love reading what you think about the story. Some of you are so random in your reviews, but I love it. Please keep submitting reviews, I'm very glad you tell me what you think of my story. Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

-Chapter Five-

Like a small child, Sakura bounded up to Hinata with excitement in her emerald eyes. "Look what I made!" the woman chimed, holding out a long and sturdy piece of bamboo with the end sharpened to a deadly point. Taking the weapon in her hand, Hinata examined it, nodding after a while with a look pleased look on her face.

"Now we can fish without using our kunai, it will be a lot easier now."

As soon as Sasuke appeared, Sakura announced, "I'm calling a meeting." The four ninja gathered around the fire pit, Sakura clearing her throat repeatedly as the other three waited patiently. Patience wearing thin after about a minute, Hinata closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as Sasuke glared at his comrade. Naruto swayed back and forth, continuing to wait.

Finally, Sakura straightened her posture quickly and grinned before saying, "Since we don't know how long we're going to be here, I was thinking we should assign people jobs. This will enable us to get more tasks done and get them done quickly. We will need someone to hunt, someone to harvest, and two people to work on building a shelter and crafting items we need."

Four pairs of eyes glanced around from person to person, wondering what was to be said next. Giving a small shrug, Hinata mentioned, "I like to harvest. I also wanted to try fishing though since we have a spear now."

The person whose idea it had been to have jobs had to think for a moment. "You will be mainly in charge of harvesting, but once you are done with that for the day, you can switch jobs with whoever is the hunter so that you can have a little time to fish. So, whoever is the hunter will have a little time of harvesting too."

Bouncing up and down, the only blonde giggling with excitement. Once all eyes were on him, his act turned serious, every trace of childishness washed away. "I want to be a hunter," he said. Suddenly, his face broke out into a grin. "I would get to carry a spear around and stab stuff for dinner!"

Disapproving glances shot around the group, Naruto slumping over slightly at the sight of them. One particular person took pity on him then after seeing all his joy simmered down. Hinata rested a hand on his arm and smiled weakly in reassurance of him getting the task, then quickly looked at Sakura, eyebrows raised. Getting a firm nod from the pink-haired woman, Hinata beamed, turning back to Naruto. "You can be the hunter," she said softly.

Pumping his fists into the air, the man let out a high pitched shout of joy.

"Naruto, don't goof off on the job, we're all depending on mostly you for our food," Sakura sighed. "I guess that means Sasuke and I are building and crafting." Everyone noticed Sasuke's face twitch a couple of times, but he didn't complain. For the most part, the four people were pleased with their new set of plans.

The sun had already set, the last bit of rays peeping over the horizon. Stars looked down upon the people, the moon growing increasingly visible as the sky grew darker.

"Since it's getting late, we should eat dinner," Hinata said, staring out across the water at the small patch of pink-ish purple sky from the sun, which was gone now, but would be back the next day, bringing unbearable heat along with it. "After dinner we should sleep because we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Three heads bobbed in agreement.

The dinner consisted of fish and it was eaten in complete silence, each person lost in their own bundle of thoughts.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto rolled across the ground expertly, hopping up to hide behind another tree. It was his first day hunting and he was very excited. The thought of meat made his mouth water, which made the situation seem even more exciting.

Sighing, he stepped out from behind the tree and grumbled to himself, "There is nothing to hunt on this island except monkeys, and I'm not about to kill one of them."

"No luck?" Hinata called from not too far away. Panting, she took a break from slashing at the vines she had wanted to collect, and turned to look at her crush. His head full of blonde hair shook back and forth.

"Maybe I'll just fish until we find some other source of meat." Some of his excitement fading, the man started walking back towards the beach.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sakura nodded, staring at the frame of the shelter they had created from bamboo. "Okay, let's set it up now. You get that side and I'll get this one." Sasuke took hold of a sturdy leg of the shelter as Sakura took another and they hauled it to it's right position, shoving all the legs forcefully into the sand so that it would remain standing.

Rubbing the back of a pale hand across her forehead, Sakura wiped the sweat away. The heat was never this bad in Konoha, so none of the shinobi were used to it.

"What now?" Sasuke asked flatly. The woman opened her mouth to answer, but a loud rumbling cut her off, the ground starting to shake violently. Sakura immediately fell, sprawled out across the sand, while shrieking. Sasuke kept his balance for a couple of seconds, then finally did a face plant in the sand.

A minute later, everything was still and the loud rumbling was gone. Sakura raised her head, glancing around, and smiled when she saw the shelter still standing. A loud fit of laughs filled the air when her eyes landed on Sasuke, which was sitting up and spitting sand out of his mouth.

"It's not funny," he growled, fixing a glare on her. Face distorted from trying to hold back her laughs, Sakura got to her feet and examined the shelter.

"Well," she started, the laughs dying in her throat. "At least we know the shelter is sturdy."

Two the could hear Naruto before they could see him. "Sakura!" he yelled, bounding onto the beach. "What happened? What was that?"

"The volcano," she answered knowingly, pointing to a neighboring island that held a smoking volcano right in the middle of it. It was the first time Naruto and Sasuke had realized there was a volcano, even another island nearby. Both males stared at it for a couple of seconds, blinking only once.

Naruto shook his head, then waded into the water, planting himself in one spot and waiting for the fish to swim by so he could stab them with the spear.

The squealing of a monkey grew closer, and soon enough, the monkey that Sakura had been talking to the other day ran up to her, holding something out.

"What's this?" she asked, smiling down at the primate. Taking the items from the monkey, she unraveled the leaf to reveal fruit and a couple more leaves wrapped inside. "Thank you very much, you're a big help."

Grinning widely, the monkey nodded enthusiastically. It started to meander around the beach as Sasuke and Sakura got back to working on the shelter. The two used layers of leaves for the walls, and got all four sides finished, leaving a space in one side to enter through.

The raven-haired man hated to admit, even to himself, that he and Sakura made a good team. They had gotten a lot of work done so far. Being independent most of the time, it was hard for him to accept the fact that he and Sakura actually made a good team, but after thinking about it for a while, he caught himself smiling weakly. Shaking his head in frustration, his lips formed a stiff frown.

Since when did he take the time to think about things such as this? As he explored his own range of feelings, he concluded that it was perfectly fine for him to feel like he made a good team with other people. The members of Team Seven, to him, felt like his family since he had no blood relatives still living. Working as a team with them had made him slightly content from the beginning, when they were first assigned teams when they were twelve. Although he had been put on a team with a loud-mouthed blond idiot and his number one stalker fan-girl, the strengths of some made up for the weaknesses of the others; they had a well-balanced team from the start. Over time they had matured in a way, Naruto became more serious in certain situations and Sakura stopped gushing and obsessing over her crush so much and tried her best during missions. They were the ideal team.

When Sasuke had returned to Konoha he had found out how much his two teammates had changed while he was gone. Naruto was more serious and more determined than ever. No matter what challenge he faced, the hyper ninja always tried his absolute best. The Uzumaki man was a very strong and confident ninja, not the smartest, but very strong. Sakura was more mature, emotionally, mentally, and physically. The girl he had left on the cold bench on the night he left was no longer an immature little girl, she was a woman. She no longer obesessed over him, she did not ever make any affectionate comment towards him; she obviously no longer felt the need to shower him with affection. When the man first returned he found this relieving. After about a month, it became unnerving that she no longer showed him any affection. He had no clue why it bothered him so badly.

The left side of Sasuke's face twitched as he thought about it. It just wasn't like him to be upset about something as simple as a stupid ex-fan-girl.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked flatly, a pale pink eyebrow raised in question. His mouth opened to answer but nothing but a soft squeak came out because he had not fully directed his attention to her from his thoughts. The kunoichi's lips shifted into various positions, but she eventually started giggling, not being able to control herself anymore.

He glared at her with cold eyes. "It's not funny."

"Right," she drawled, continuing to giggle. "You're right. It's not funny." But, after saying this, her giggles morphed into loud laughs.

_Real smooth Sasuke_, the man mumbled in his head, _squeaking is real manly_.

* * *

I hope you liked the chapter! After this chapter I'm going to start trying to make them grow closer. Like...NaruHina and SasuSaku. I'm really going to start developing those relationships a lot in the next chapters. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you to everyone that has read or reviewed my story. Okay, I got my cousin to start writing a Naruto fanfiction, and it is SasuSaku with a bit of NaruHina in it. You should check it out. The story is called White Walls and her username is pendulous threads. (She stole that username from me, because I wanted to use it next!) Anyways, you should check it out when you find the time.

Okay, in the reviews I've been getting people have been wanting longer chapters. I know my chapters are short. It's because I just can't write a lot in one chapter. I don't know why. But I am trying to make the chapters longer, I really am. But I update frequently, so please, bear with me when the chapter is short. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

-Chapter Six-

It was almost time for dinner and everyone was anxious to eat after a day of hard work. Hinata was fishing like a pro with the spear as Naruto collected more bamboo and leaves for the shelter.

"Yes!" Hinata cackled, holding up another huge fish she had caught. No one could figure out how she had just started fishing and was already so good at it. Naruto had been attempting to fish all day and had only captured one, which was most likely the smallest one in the entire ocean.

Everything seemed calm and laid-back and Sakura's singing was their source of entertainment while they worked. She was singing a song that none of them recognized, but she had a beautiful voice, and it was soothing to the three people within the area. The song became fainter as Sakura stepped into the small storage closet she and Sasuke were partially finished with.

"I still don't know what we need a storage closet for," Sasuke grumbled, staring blankly at Sakura as she examined the half-finished walls of the small space. After a moment, her singing ceased and she turned to look at him, hands placed on her hips.

"We'll be making weapons and tools and a lot of other stuff that will need to be kept someplace out of the rain and away from the monkeys." Now understanding the need for a storage closet, Sasuke nodded. The two had gotten a lot built for it being the first day of their work; everyone had gotten a lot done. Well, everyone except Naruto, but he just needed a little practice at fishing and everything would most likely work out.

A stomach growled fiercely, the sound reaching the two females and Sasuke. Each person looked at the other, wondering who it had been. Finally, Sasuke looked over his shoulder to find Naruto standing there, eyes closed, clutching his stomach. "I'm so hungry," he man eventually groaned.

"Let's eat then!" Hinata exclaimed, splashing through the water and onto the sand, another large fish in her hands. Sasuke lit the fire and the four were eating in no time.

It was still cold that night, yet not as cold as it usually was. Spring was coming soon, and bringing warmer nights along with it.

Naruto did the same thing he had the past couple of nights, draped his jacket over Hinata then laid down and sighed, eyes closing. Casting one last look at Sasuke, Sakura laid down beside Naruto like usual. She could hear Sasuke fall back onto the sand.

The pink-haired woman lay on her back, gazing up at the stars. She didn't feel tired at all, and even though she needed sleep because of another long day of work ahead of her, she didn't try and force herself to get the much needed rest.

Shivering, the woman got up silently and wandered into the forest. She had no clue what she was doing, but her monkey friend soon found her.

"Hi, there," she said warmly, smiling. Now she knew why she had ventured into the forest at night, it was just so that she could talk. Sure, she was stuck on an island with three other people, but she had spent the whole day working with the anti-social person.

Holding out its arms the monkey stared up at her. She gave it a hug then tried to pull away, but the animal hung on her. Finally, its grip loosened and she slipped away from it.

"I couldn't get to sleep," she explained. "I think it's because of a lack of talking. Sasuke is the most anti-social person I know."

She could see the figures head nod in agreement through the darkness. "I feel bad about what I said about him the other day. Everyone has their faults, right?" Once again the monkey's head nodded. "He probably thinks I hate him, when the truth is, I still love him. I love him a lot." Nervously, the kunoichi wrung her wrists. "I'm just afraid to tell him. I'm afraid my words will mean nothing to him, just like last time."

Startled by the rustling behind her, the woman jumped. "Sasuke would never think that you hate him," Naruto said, coming up to Sakura and placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

"You heard what I said?" Sakura shrieked in horror, jerking away from his touch. Humiliation washed over her, pale hands shooting up to cover her face, which was hot with embarrassment. When she was a Genin she didn't care if everyone knew who she fancied, but now, at an older and more mature age, having someone else know was embarrassing to her. In the years that Sasuke was gone she had concealed her feelings a lot, even from Naruto.

The man stepped towards her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder again. This time she fell forwards, his arms wrapping around her in a friendly and comforting hug. Naruto could see the dark figure of the monkey scampering off, knowing Sakura would be alright with her friend.

"I can't believe," Sakura started, inhaling deeply, "you heard that." His embrace tightened slightly, before he let go of her, letting her take a step back.

"It doesn't matter, Sakura. I've known for a long time."

"H-How?" she stammered.

Mouth open slightly, soft laughs seeped out. "You're one of my best friends. I can tell. You look at him the same way you used to, only you don't openly show your affection for him anymore."

"Could the way I look at him be the same way you look at Hinata?" the woman teased, jabbing him playfully in the stomach. Her only response was a playful shove that caused her to giggle before the man turned and started back towards the beach.

"Come on," he called back. "We both need sleep."

"Oh, yes, especially you. You caught _so much_ food today, and I'm sure you'll do about the same tomorrow." The two friends shared a good laugh as they, side-by-side, made their way to the beach.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Three out of the four people woke early, stretching and yawning, dreading another day of hard work under the sun and its intense rays. They let Sakura sleep while they ate fruit for their breakfast and then huddled around the woman when they were done.

"She's usually the first one up," Hinata commented, staring down at her friend in confusion and concern. "Is she trying to sleep in again?"

"Should we wake her up?" Sasuke suggested, briefly thinking of the consequences of that action.

"Maybe," Hinata said slowly.

Naruto gazed down at his friend, observing the peaceful look on her face, which was something he hardly ever saw. "Let her sleep, she's tired," the man finally snapped with hostility. Sasuke and Hinata both exchanged questioning glances, but then shrugged and walked off to start their jobs for the day.

Sasuke stopped in front of the unfinished shelter and stared at it blankly. He was now in a situation in which, either way, he would get yelled at by Sakura. If he woke her up to help him work on the shelter, she would yell. If he started working on the shelter, she would also yell, because she would claim he wasn't doing something right. Not only that, but if he didn't do anything, then Sakura would yell at him for that too. The Uchiha sighed, closing his onyx eyes for a moment, trying to figure something out.

Naruto watched his best friend make a decision then stride across the beach to where Sakura was laying. Before Sasuke said anything to the woman, a large smile spread across Naruto's face.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said in a loud voice, which was very unlike him, as he hovered over her. "You need to wake up and help me work on the shelter." Groaning, Sakura rolled over onto her other side so that her back was to Sasuke. Rolling his eyes, the man sighed loudly in annoyance.

"Leave her alone," Naruto called to the man. Of course, Sasuke didn't care about what Naruto had said, so he once again started telling Sakura loudly to get up.

"Shut up!" a high-pitched voice roared, rolling back over hastily to face the man. "I hardly got any sleep last night, I'm so tired. Then you come over here when I'm actually getting some sleep and yell at me to wake up and help you!"

"Well, it's not like I get good sleep either! I doubt Naruto or Hinata does, none of us do! You're not the only one that is having trouble adjusting to sleeping on the sand in the cold."

Face flushed with anger, the woman flung all the banana leaves off of herself, then scrambled to her feet. Not even sparing the man one look, she stomped down the beach to the shelter, disappearing into the storage closet.

Blinking, Sasuke stared at the pile of fruit they had near the fire pit. Eventually, he called to her, "Don't you want to eat breakfast?"

"No!" Sakura yelled back with bitterness in her voice. Knowing she was being stubborn, Sasuke picked up a fruit and made his way to the storage closet to give it to her. "I said I didn't want anything to eat," Naruto heard the female voice snap.

"Just take it," Sasuke fired back.

_They fight like a married couple, _Naruto told himself mentally. As the two continued to argue about eating breakfast, Naruto continued to fish. He hadn't caught a fish yet that day, but his goal was to catch at least two before Hinata took over the job.

Feeling the earth starting to tremble, Naruto dug his toes deep into the sand. Seconds later, the ground shook violently, and just his toes dug into the sand were not enough to keep him rooted firmly in one spot. The man fell forwards into the knee deep water, the spear being stolen from his hand from the waves. Eyes glancing in every direction, he finally found where the surface was, then swam up, coughing and gasping for air as he broke the surface. The ground was still shaking violently, but he maintained his balance somehow. Vision shaking from the trembling, Naruto could still make out the bright green spear he had lost, flinging his hand out and capturing it before it could be carried away. Sakura was shrieking and cursing loudly, then the sound of ripping met his ears.

A split second after his coughing had subsided, his head snapped over in the direction of the shelter. Sakura was lying on the sand outside of the shelter, a hole where she had fallen through in the one wall. Sasuke was laying to the side of her, sitting up and rubbing his head, a pained expression on his face.

Naruto cringed, realizing they had both been in a small space when that had happened, and that there was only a hole in the wall that was the size of one person.

Rushing over, Naruto knelt down beside Sakura; repeatedly asking her if she was alright. Blinking, she was in a daze for a moment, then a look crossed her face that made Naruto stand up and back away. She had been angry before the incident, but now she seemed to be even angrier. When she sat up, Naruto noticed her cringe in pain.

Still hurting, Sasuke started to ask if she was okay but his question was cut short by a hard slap across the face.

One side of his face numbing, Sasuke started to rub the cheek she had slapped. "What was that for?" he asked calmly, masking his anger.

"That was for invading my personal space," Sakura shrieked. "What do you think it was for? Did you think I was just being random by slapping you?"

"It wasn't even my fault," Sasuke snarled in defense. Too furious to say anything else, even look at the man, Sakura got up and stumbled away, rubbing her head. Naruto then knelt down beside Sasuke, an eyebrow raised. "That freaking hurt."

Naruto couldn't help but smile weakly as he watched his best friend continue to rub the side of his face that had a reddened mark of a hand on it.

"I think I have a concussion. Our heads smacked together while we were in there." Sasuke sighed then let his hand drop. "I don't understand that woman."

"Your first mistake was waking her up," Naruto pointed out. "Your second mistake was trying to force her to eat breakfast. Your third mistake was being in that room with her when the volcano make the ground shake, and your fourth mistake was whatever happened while you were in there."

"But I _couldn't help it_. And besides, if it's anyone's fault, it's Sakura's. She's the one that lost balance first, then fell forwards and knocked me off balance. Then our heads smacked together. I was only trying to balance us before we fell through the wall."

Naruto's mouth was open slightly, his facial expression of slight sympathy. "That was your fourth mistake, Sasuke, trying to balance both yourselves. Usually when the ground is shaking violently, your hands are going to end up somewhere they shouldn't be. And I'm sorry to say that you failed in your mission to balance both of you, because you fell through the wall."

A menacing glare aimed directly at his best friend, Sasuke replied unhappily, "I noticed." When Naruto had stood up, laughing at the situation as he waded back out into the water, Sasuke turned a very light shade of pink as he thought about what had happened.

_Blinking, Sasuke stared at the pile of fruit they had near the fire pit. Eventually, he called to her, "Don't you want to eat breakfast?"_

"_No!" Sakura yelled back with bitterness in her voice. Knowing she was being stubborn, Sasuke picked up a fruit and made his way to the storage closet to give it to her. If she didn't eat anything her energy would be completely drained in only a short amount of time and she wouldn't be able to help him build the shelter efficiently._

_As Sasuke stepped into the storage closet, the pink-haired woman rounded on him, a fierce glare set on her flawless face. Her lips parted, forming the words, "I said I didn't want anything to eat!"_

_The yellow food was thrust at her and Sasuke snapped, "Just take it." Refusing to obey, the female shook her head and continued to argue with him. It wasn't long before a familiar rumbling sound met their ears. As the earth beneath their feet started to quiver the two stumbled to the side a bit, each on one side of the storage closet. The banana was dropped, completely forgotten as Sakura shrieked and cursed, trying desperately to keep her balance._

_A sharp pain coursed through the Uchiha's head as his comrade fell forwards, her head slamming directly into his. A curse seeped from his mouth. Sakura's powerful vocal chords produced louder curses and shrieks than before as she swerved to the side and then to the other._

_Trying to balance her, and himself, Sasuke put his hands out to try and catch her to stop her from swaying in every possible direction. Just as he did this, he got knocked off balance and his hands did not meet their intended target._

_Electrifying shock jetted through his veins, Sakura's voice cracking as she realized what was going on. The hands of Sasuke Uchiha were placed right upon the breasts of Sakura Haruno._

_There was only a split second when their pairs of wide eyes locked before they stumbled and forcefully hit the side of the storage closest, creating a hole and collapsing onto the sand outside the small room they had made._

_Not only had Sasuke touched Sakura's chest, but he was now lying on top of her. He jerked away violently and flopped onto the sand beside her, hands shooting up to clutch his throbbing head._

Sasuke shivered slightly after replaying the scene in his mind. It really had been an accident. A large knot formed in his stomach, a strange feeling invading him. Worried thoughts flooded his mind. He wondered if Sakura was alright, if she completely despised him now, or worst of all, if she thought of him as a complete and total pervert.

A frustrated snort was let out by the man as he spat at himself, "Why do I even care about those things?" Maybe it was because that contact had been their first physical contact in many years.

* * *

Yes, sad to see a rough patch in their relationship, but TRUST ME, it will help. This little event happened because it will overall make them grow closer. Okay? I know you wanted fluff, but not yet. It's too soon. Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

New chapter! Since you all complain and whine about the chapters being too short I combined two of them. It still kind of does seem short though, I guess. But anyways, I hope you enjoy it no matter what the length on the chapter!

* * *

-Chapter Seven-

Hinata immediately dropped all the items she had in her hands when she saw Sakura clutching her head and bawling. Stretching her arms out, Hinata beckoned for her friend, then caught her when the woman fell forwards into her embrace.

Neither woman said a word; all Sakura needed at that moment was to know that her best friend was there for her.

"I think I have a concussion," Sakura wailed, starting to laugh as she continued to cry. After a second, Hinata couldn't tell if Sakura was only laughing now, still only crying, or both.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked slowly, taking Sakura's shoulders and holding her away at arm's length.

"N-No," Sakura laughed, tears streaming down her face. "Hinata, you missed the strangest and most frustrating event of my life. My head hurts so badly, but I can't help but laugh about it now. Oh, and also, I slapped Sasuke."

Hinata's mouth fell open, pearl-colored eyes widening. "You _what_?" she shrieked. "Sakura, tell me what happened!"

Whenever Sakura tried to start her explanation she would laugh. Her best friend was becoming more inpatient every second that Sakura made her wait.

"What happened?" Hinata shouted, giving her friend a firm shake.

"The volcano," Sakura laughed. "We were both in the storage closet when it make the ground shake. You felt that, right?" The woman nodded stiffly, eyes still wide. "I fell towards him and knocked him off balance, then I hit the wall and our heads smacked together."

"You are just joking around," Hinata said in disbelief, crossing her arms.

Sakura started laughing again, shaking her head back and forth. "Sasuke tried to balance us out, which is a really stupid idea considering the ground was still shaking and it was really dark in that storage closet."

A look of horror spread across Hinata's face. "You have to be joking."

"We both fell through the wall together, and then I slapped him and came here to find you."

"You are joking."

When Sakura shook her head 'no', Hinata immediately became enraged and disgusted, yet a small part of her found it comical. The woman took a step towards the beach, fists clenched, but Sakura grabbed her wrist and kept her there, Hinata starting to laugh along with her.

"Sakura, it's not funny," Hinata laughed, smacking the pink-haired woman on the arm. "Let go. As your best friend I am supposed to beat any man that violates your personal property." Although the kunoichi talked venomously she did not honestly have the guts to stand up to the Uchiha male. His powerful aura almost made it hard to even be near him for an extensive period of time.

Leaning against each other for support, the two women continued to laugh loudly together, not about what had happened, but about nothing at all. It felt so good to laugh genuinely together for the first time since they were shipwrecked.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto wandered into the forest, leaving Sasuke alone of the beach. The man found Sakura lying on the ground near where Hinata was working and the two were chattering back and forth, giggling every once in a while.

Glancing off to the side, a hibiscus flower caught Naruto's eye. The flower was beautiful, large and white with specks of orange around the center of the flower. Cerulean eyes shot back to look at Hinata, a smile forming on his face, realizing that the flower would look wonderful in her hair.

Plucking the flower off, the man came up behind Hinata then said her name softly so that she would turn around. When she was facing him, he tucked the flower into her hair.

"I thought it would look good in your hair," Naruto explained, shrugging slightly when he took a step back.

Wide eyes, Hinata's face turned a dark shade of pink, before she managed to stutter, "T-Thank you, Naruto." Their eyes locked for a moment, a smile also showing through the man's eyes. Laughing, his arms raised to rest behind his head as Naruto turned and walked away from the two.

"Aww," Sakura cooed, rolling from side to side randomly. "My best friend is going to get married! I hear wedding bells!"

"Shut up," Hinata hissed, but she couldn't help but giggle softly.

"Can't you hear them, too? Hinata Uzumaki! I love your new name!" Glaring, Hinata turned and chucked the vines she had collected at Sakura. Screaming filled the air when Sakura got tangled in them, arms flailing as she tried to get out of the mess. Hinata started to harvest stuff again, not bothering to help her best friend.

Eventually, Sakura stood up, free from the vines. "You're so mean," she whined. Jokingly, Hinata let out a cackle. "Anyways, I'm going to go exploring."

Turning to face the woman, Hinata narrowed her eyes in question. "Exploring? Sakura, we've already been all the way around this island. It's not very big, or exciting."

Pink hair swayed as the woman shook her head, sighing. "I'm going to explore another island, the one with the volcano on it. I can get there by focusing chakra to my feet and running across the water as long as the waves aren't too violent."

A very distant rumble caught Hinata's attention, her head tilting upwards to find dark clouds on the horizon. Expanding, they glided across the sky slowly, growing darker as they did so. "Sakura, I don't think leaving this island is such a good idea. There is a storm coming, and it looks pretty bad. If the waves get untamed, you won't be able to make it back, and then I will worry about you. All of us will worry. Please, just stay here for today."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura's placed her hands on her hips. "It's still midday and I have nothing better to do. I will be back before the waves get too violent. Besides, that storm looks like it's going in a different direction, it won't hit here."

"Just," Hinata sighed, wrapping her arms around her friend, "be careful." Pearl locked with emerald when they drew away from one another. "Sakura, be back before sunset."

Nodding, the pink-haired woman turned away and trotted to the nearest beach to set off on her journey.

Bothered by the situation of Sakura going by herself to another island, Hinata worked slower than usual. Naruto came back to where the woman was working and glanced around in confusion.

"Where is Sakura?" he asked. Their gazes locked when Hinata spun around, which brought a small blush to her cheeks. "I didn't think she would go back to the beach and tolerate being with Sasuke after what happened."

"She is exploring the other island," Hinata blurted out, holding the man's gaze with her own. Concern started to etch its way into his features as the information sunk into his mind. A smile formed on Hinata's face as she continued to stare at the man. "Don't worry, Naruto, she will be fine." The woman's beautiful smile was contagious, Naruto soon smiling too and nodding.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

When Sakura had first arrived on the other island her mouth had dropped open as she gazed in wonder at her surroundings. There were so many plants and flowers that hadn't been on the other island, and she could see the top of a waterfall from where she was standing.

The pink-haired woman had taken off towards the waterfall, and on her journey, had found many fruits and vegetables. She had taken off her shirt and used it to carry the food with, only in a sleeveless undershirt now. Sakura had even found a pig running around on the island, and the ugly squealing animal reminded her of Ino Yamanaka from back in Konoha.

The kunoichi had been so preoccupied with collecting the new foods that she had failed to realize that it was past the time she should have been back at camp. She finally realized this when a loud rumble of thunder caused her to look up at the sky.

There was a dark cloud covering across the sky, streaks of lightning creating loud thunder that sounded above her.

Swearing, Sakura held the tips of her shirt firmly in one of her hands, making sure the foods were securely inside, and sprinted to the beach. Her swearing became louder as her green eyes watched the violent waves crash onto the sand. It seemed risky to try and cross back over to the other island in the storm.

"Hinata is going to kill me," she grumbled, strutting over to a rock and sitting down on it. Once her shirt containing the food was set off to the side, Sakura perched her elbows on her upper legs and rested her head on her hands.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

One person paced along the beach, hoping Sakura was alright. Another person stood with his arms crossed and looking slightly worried. The other person was laughing from nerves as he tried to make up excuses as to why Sakura was not back yet.

"Another coconut could have fallen and hit her on the head," Naruto suggested with a nod. "Or monkeys could be holding her hostage. _Or_-"

Cold dark eyes fixed the man with a glare. "Naruto, shut up." The three people were silent for a while as Hinata continued to pace. By the look on her face, Naruto knew she was thinking of something that would be risky. Pearl-colored eyes flitted from Sasuke to Naruto before locking on the sand beneath her.

After clearing her throat and stopping her pacing, Hinata announced bravely, "I'm going to go over there and make sure she is over there and safe."

Immediately, her plan was objected. "No," Naruto said stiffly. "You're not going over there."

For the first time in her life, Hinata Hyuga looked her crush right in the eyes with a hostile gaze with a frown plastered on her face.

"She is my best friend. I'm going to go over there and-"

The blonde took a step towards her. "I said _no_." Tension grew between the two with the help of the flash of lightning and sound of thunder. "It's too dangerous for any of us to go over there right now, and Sakura is smart. She knows better than to try and cross the water with waves this violent."

"I still want to make sure she is safe. Sometimes she thinks she can do something when she can't. She very well could have decided that the waves were not too tough for her to overcome."

When the black-haired woman turned towards the ocean and took a couple steps onto the shallow water, strong arms caught her from behind.

"How many times am I going to have to say the word 'no' before you listen?" Hinata shuddered from their contact, eyes wide. A sheet of rain soon started to fall on the shinobi.

Sasuke stepped out onto the water, turned to face the two, then shrugged. "I'll go. Naruto obviously won't let you, but I doubt he is going to object so harshly about me going."

The blonde man glared at his best friend. "No one is going. Sakura is fine."

"A loser like you can't make me do anything. I'll do what I want. If I want to go over to the other island, then I will." Smirking, the raven-haired man turned towards the other island then started sprinting across the water through the rain, already stumbling from the waves.

Letting go of Hinata, Naruto took a couple hesitant steps further out onto the water, then stopped and glared in Sasuke's direction. As the rain came down harder, Sasuke's figure faded.

When the man turned back around, his eyes landed on the black-haired woman, who had her arms wrapped around herself, head tilted down.

"Hinata…"

The woman looked up at her crush, confusion flashing in her eyes. "Why did you do that?" she said, an edge of frustration in her voice. "_I_ wanted to go and make sure she was safe. You hardly threw a fit about Sasuke going, so why did you when I said I was going? Do you think I'm weak and incapable of making it across some water to make sure my _best friend_ isn't hurt?"

Fists clenching at his sides, Naruto growled, "That's not it!"

"Then why?" Hinata asked, her voice higher than usual.

The blonde took a couple steps towards Hinata, then rested his hands on her shoulders, pearl locking with cerulean. "Hinata, you are definitely not weak. I didn't let you go because I want _you_ to be safe."

A gasp came from the woman, her eyes widening. "_Me_?" Naruto started nodding weakly, but the action grew more noticeable after a couple of seconds. "I-I don't understand."

_Does that mean he has feelings for me, _Hinata asked herself internally.

Dropping his head with closed eyes, Naruto chuckled softly. "Forget it. Let's just take cover under the shelter."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sakura shifted slightly on the rock, sighing. She was soaked from the ongoing downpour and scolding herself internally because she had assured her best friend that the storm wouldn't hit their location and that she would be back by sunset. Although night had not yet arrived, the storm was not letting up, and Sakura had no hope of getting back until the next day.

Sighing once again, she raised her gaze to stare out at the ocean. Immediately standing up, she squinted through the heavy rain.

"Sasuke?" she whispered in question, seeing a blurry figure nearing her location. She was positive it was him as he drew closer, and she could see he was having trouble fighting the waves. "What does he think he's doing? That idiot is going to get himself killed!" Just as she said this, Sasuke's feet were caught by a violent wave and he disappeared under the water.

A spark of fear lit within Sakura. Without thinking, she ran out onto the water, frantically looking for him. Finally she found him quite a few feet away, struggling to get back up. Another wave took him under, and Sakura stumbled to get to him.

Reaching under the water, the woman pulled her comrade out of the ocean and quickly carried him back to shore. Once Sasuke was laid flat on the sand, Sakura stared at him blankly.

"Sasuke?" she said hesitantly. When she got no response, the woman checked his pulse to find it very weak. "Oh no…is he breathing?" She determined that he wasn't, then suddenly started to freak out. "He's not breathing! What am I going to do? What do I do?" The scary situation had wiped her mind clean of any thoughts for a moment. "CPR…right. CPR. I know CPR. Don't I? Do I know CPR?" Of course she did, but even just the thought of her lips touching Sasuke's made her nervous.

As she continued to freak out, Sasuke started to cough up water. When the coughing ceased and his eyes fluttered open, he stared up at the pink-haired woman he had come to check on.

"Sakura…" he said, trying to stop her from freaking out.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, looking down at Sasuke in concern. "Sasuke, do I know CPR? I hope I know CPR, because if I don't then what I am supposed to-"

The rest of her sentence died in her throat and she blinked a couple of times, making sure what she was seeing was real. Sliding her arms under his neck, she lifted him to herself and hugged him.

"Tsunade seriously trained you?" Sasuke snorted, letting the woman hug him. It was the first time in years he had been locked in her embrace. He felt her laugh a little bit.

"I'm usually not like that. I thought I was going to lose you, and I couldn't think, and…" She shook her head. "You could have died. I asked her to train me so that I wouldn't be a burden to anyone anymore, but once again, I was useless. Being stranded is starting to mess with my head, I need to focus. You could have died. Why did you come over here? What were you thinking?"

Silence was her only response, her arms tightening around him. Finally, Sasuke mumbled, "If I knew what I had been thinking I would tell you, but I have no clue." The man fidgeted a bit, wondering how long it would be until she let go. "Sakura, I seriously might die from lack of oxygen if you don't let go of me."

Smiling softly, Sakura drew away from him then stood up, reaching a hand out to help him up off the ground. The ghost of a smile on his face, the man took her hand.

Once both of them were on their feet, Sakura scampered over to the food she had collected, motioning for Sasuke to follow. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, the raven-haired Uchiha strode over to her as she picked up her shirt filled with food. "Come on, we need to find shelter. I discovered a cave when I first got here, so we can stay in there until the storm lets up." Nodding, Sasuke followed the kunoichi through the forest a ways until they arrived at the cave. Inside it was dark, but using his Sharingan, Sasuke could see that it was quite spacious. "I can't see thing!" He watched Sakura's head shift as she tried to see her surroundings. As she took a step further into the cave, she tripped over the uneven ground, but Sasuke caught her before she could descend too far towards the cave floor.

"Let me help you," Sasuke said slowly, letting out what seemed to be a half laugh half sigh. "Just sit down and stay there. I'll be right back."

"Where are you-" Sakura started to ask, but she felt a gust of air hit her gently and knew he had already gone. Minutes went by; silent minutes other than the sound of the rain from outside. The woman shivered in the darkness, cold from being wet and having on only a sleeveless shirt for her top. Night was descending upon them, yet the cloud covering made it so that it was impossible to tell, and nighttime was always cold.

Footsteps meet Sakura's ears and she jumped slightly at the new noise. Sasuke was only a few feet away but she couldn't see him or what he was doing.

Bright glowing flames caused light to illuminate the cave. Sakura smiled with a soft sigh, then got up and walked a few steps closer to the fire Sasuke had started.

"Where did you manage to find dry wood?" Sakura asked, clearly amazed. As she took a seat beside Sasuke, he answered, "There is a dense tree covering a little ways further into the forest. There was some pretty dry wood under the trees."

Sakura's shirt was dropped onto Sasuke's lap, his dark eyes flickering down to the object. "Open it," Sakura commanded, tilting her head to the side. Without asking any questions, the man untied the knot in her shirt and let four corners drop, revealing various kinds of fruits, one kind in particular snagging his attention.

"Tomatoes," he exclaimed thoughtfully, blinking in surprise. He took one and took a bite of it, giving a satisfied nod. Sakura reached over and picked out an orange, peeling it then starting to eat, smiling as she did so.

* * *

Yes, see? Sasuke and Sakura are getting along fine and...Naruto is expressing his feelings towards Hinata in a way. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you for all the reviews! I'm glad you all like my story so much, thank you for your support! And...I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

-Chapter Eight-

Hinata, even though neither her best friend nor the person that had gone to fetch her was back, was having a good time being with Naruto. The man made her laugh and lessened the feelings of worry and concern.

Naruto had been cracking jokes for quite a while, but a comfortable silence soon fell between the two. Sensing Hinata's now increasing anxiety, Naruto reached over through the dark and took her small hand in his. The woman was so startled that she almost jerked away, but she caught herself before she could.

"Hinata," Naruto started softly, giving her hand a squeeze, "stop worrying so much. They will be fine." As a pretty pink dusted the woman's cheeks, she was thankful it was dark. She hated how she always blushed so much in front of Naruto.

They sat in silence under the shelter for a couple of minutes, listening to the sound of the heavy rain outside the shelter. Hinata's breathing grew deeper and her head started to hang slightly as she drifted off into a light sleep. Naruto felt her wake with a jolt and mumble something to herself about staying awake to wait for Sasuke and Sakura.

Gently, Naruto pulled her over to him and let go of her hand to wrap an arm around her. "Go to sleep, Hinata, I will stay up and wait for them." Grinning, he then kissed her lightly on the cheek. Her head immediately dropped onto the man's chest, and Naruto concluded that she had either fainted or fallen asleep very quickly. The man felt content holding Hinata in his arms, and she was all he could think about as he fought sleep away for hours.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Sasuke," Sakura whispered, shaking him gently by the shoulder. The man cracked his eyes open, letting them focus on his teammate. "Get up. We need to get back to the other island. It's morning and the storm has passed."

Sakura then stepped over him and scampered outside into the light of the morning sun. Tilting her head towards the bright blue sky, she smiled, lighthearted giggles escaping her mouth. Seeing that the bad weather had passed put her in a good mood.

Glimmering green eyes met Sasuke's own as he stepped out of the cave. Freezing in place, he blinked at her repeatedly, slightly confused. Something was different about the woman, but he couldn't figure out what it was. Not liking the bizarre feeling in the pit of his stomach, the raven-haired man turned away from her and said, "Did you get the food?"

"Yes, it's right here!" Sakura chimed in response. "Come on, let's go!" The sound of her light footsteps made Sasuke's ears perk up, and when he turned, she was trotting towards the ocean, pink locks swaying behind her and her bundled up shirt swinging.

Smiling warmly, she glanced back at him and called, "Come on, Sasuke! Hurry up, Naruto and Hinata are probably really worried about us!"

Onyx orbs locking on the ground, Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and strode after the female. Sakura was sitting patiently on a rock, waiting for her crush to arrive on the sandy beach. When he did, her cheerfulness diminished somewhat. He wore an emotionless facade, his eyes holding a spark of frustration. The corners of Sakura's mouth dipped downwards as she realized her peppiness must be annoying to him.

Slowly, she rose to her feet. Sasuke waited for her to say something to him, but words never met his ears. After a minute of silence he glanced up at her and saw her avert her gaze, the frown upon her face intensifying.

Without a word to him, the kunoichi focused chakra to her feet and started walking across the calm salt water, not sparing the Uchiha male a single glance. Being taller than the woman, it was not long before Sasuke's long legs carried him to travel at the side of Sakura.

The silence was almost unbearable for Sakura. She knew Sasuke was not a conversationalist, but the air between the two seemed to be different than it had been when they had first arrived on the island. Memories of the previous day flickered through her mind, causing her to cringe when she thought of how hard she had slapped him. Was it that whole situation that had caused a disturbance in the air between them?

Shyly, a blush spreading across her face, Sakura started, "About the other day..."

Sasuke's attention was grasped by the words and he looked over at her with questioning, yet cautious, eyes. "What about it?" he drawled.

She wasn't sure if it was the best time to bring up the subject, but it would have to have been brought up at some point. "I-I'm sorry about slapping you." The man beside her remained silent. "I was just upset, and it really wasn't your fault. I-I didn't know what I was doing until it had happened."

Her chest rose and then fell as she heaved a sigh. "Sakura." Her name rolling off his tongue made her eyes pinpoint his dark eyes quickly. "I really didn't mean to. I can see why you would be upset, though." Pink hair swung lightly over her shoulders as she nodded once.

A broad smile was cast in Sasuke's direction even though Sakura figured he wasn't watching, but out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of the action. The soft patter of their feet on the surface of the water was the only sound for quite some time and they were almost to the original island. Sakura's stomach growled loudly and she let out a short and slightly embarrassed laugh.

"I guess I should eat something." Her slender fingers worked at the knot of her bundled up shirt and eventually loosened it enough to pull out some food. Sasuke happened to look over and she smiled weakly at the juicy red tomato in her hand. To Sasuke, everything was happening in slow motion. The pink-haired woman started to raise his favorite food to her mouth, his eyes wide as he watched the scene. She was going to eat a tomato she had originally got for _him_. It was _his_ tomato.

The red fruit was only millimeters from her slightly parted lips when a large hand wrapped around her wrist, causing the woman to freeze. Emerald orbs met onyx ones.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked in a low, soft voice. Pale pink eyebrows rose challengingly as she replied firmly, "I'm going to eat a tomato."

All that was visible was a blur of black as the man sped towards the island after snatching the tomato from her. Bewildered, Sakura blinked rapidly then took off after him, yelling, "Sasuke Uchiha, give me back my breakfast!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hinata," Naruto whispered, his mouth hovering near her ear. "Hinata, wake up. They're back." Groggily, the black-haired woman rubbed her sleep-glazed eyes and yawned. The arm Naruto had wrapped around her slowly loosened and he eventually broke contact with her.

Together the two stood and went to the edge of the water and squinted, watching a blur of pink catch up to a blur of black. The female fell through the surface of the ocean as she made a dive for Sasuke. The man skid to a stop and trotted to the spot where his comrade had fell through the water, helping her back up to stand on the surface after she emerged from the liquid coughing and sputtering.

With raised eyebrows, Naruto and Hinata watched their actions. Now they are just messing around and having fun, but weren't they just fighting yesterday? And since when did Sasuke _ever_ act like that? Naruto was the most confused out of the two.

"You know, I could have let go of all the food and your precious tomatoes would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean."

"But it's your shirt that the food is wrapped up in."

Smiling bitterly, Sakura seethed, "That's why I didn't let go." As she walked ahead of the man, she swung her wet hair behind her should forcefully, droplets of water smacking Sasuke on the face. A smirk so small that no one could see it appeared on his face.

"Sakura!" Hinata cried, rushing to her best friend and flinging her arms around her. One started to laugh in relief and the other patted her friend's back and apologized for not coming back to the island before the storm the previous day. Hurriedly, Hinata drew away, glancing down at the spots on her outfit where water had seeped through from hugging her drenched best friend.

Naruto simply let out a sigh of relief, Sasuke coming to a halt beside the blond. "Looks like you did something right, she seems happy," Naruto mumbled, jabbing his best friend in the side with his elbow.

Although Sasuke was inwardly smirking, he snapped, "Shut up." Naruto was right, the woman did seem happy and she had been with Sasuke all morning. Obviously he really _had_ done something right. Well, there had been no insulting or crude remarks yet that day, which was enough to make the pink-haired kunoichi grin.

Green eyes flickered back towards Sasuke, a hint of question being portrayed. She had never seen that side of Sasuke, the playful and actually fun side of him, but all she knew was that she liked that side of him. She liked it a lot.

"Alright people, get to work!" she yelled. Those words caused Hinata and Naruto to smile at their friend, both scampering off into the forest to harvest and hunt.

Sakura stood facing Sasuke who was not meeting her gaze. He could sense her questioning eyes lingering on his face. "You're...different," Sakura announced, his dark eyes shifted to look into her light ones. "You showed me another side of you today, Sasuke." Timidly she took a step towards him. It was only a matter of seconds before she wrapped her slender arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, the side of her face pressed against his upper chest. "I like that side of you."

He wasn't sure if she meant she liked that side of him in a friendly way or if she did in a romantic kind of way. Either way he took it a very small blush rose to his cheeks and he had no idea why, he wasn't the type that blushed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately when around Sakura.

Hurriedly she drew away, making sure she was looking anyplace else other than at Sasuke. It was unlike her to hug him randomly these days; it was more like something she would do back in their genin days. "We should fix the hole in the storage area," Sakura blurted out, gesturing towards the gaping hole in the side of the wall.

As the day went on, Sakura worked from the inside of the small space as Sasuke worked from the outside to patch it up. Each remained silent, glancing at one another secretly.

Sasuke was not fully aware of what he was doing when his eyes drifted to the woman every once in a while. When he finally caught himself staring he shook his head stiffly and let out a frustrated sigh.

"What's wrong?" the pink-haired woman asked from the other side of the pretty much fixed wall. The only thing he could see were her shimmering green eyes filled with concern. He forced himself to look away and replied with, "It's nothing."

When he returned his gaze to her's he could tell she knew it was not just 'nothing', but she didn't push for him to tell her what was bothering him. She knew it was none of her business and that he didn't want to tell her. Glistening jade eyes blinked before she drew away from the small hole in the leafy wall, a leaf just as green as her eyes being places over the opening only seconds later.

Sasuke stood, Sakura joining him outside only a minute later to observe the job they had done. "Good as new," Sakura sighed, her lips forming into a small smile.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Once again Sakura was lying awake as her comrades slept peacefully, Naruto once again on the side of her with his jacket draped over Hinata. Thinking of how the blond man was starting to show his feelings for the female Hyuga, Sakura grinned as she stared up at the twinkling stars. They were cute together, they would make a great couple. Hinata's shy personality gave a great balance to the relationship since Naruto was pretty much the exact opposite.

_Kind of like Sasuke and I_, she thought with a sigh. Sasuke was quiet like Hinata and Sakura was loud like Naruto, both relationships would be very well balanced. She shoved those thoughts from her mind, her grin arching into a frown. Sasuke would never like her they way she liked him.

"No..." Sasuke said from the other side of the dimly lit fire. An edge of anger was in his voice. He said that word again but more vehemently. "Stop it!" he snarled fiercely.

Puzzled, Sakura sat up. She could just make out his shape from across the almost dead fire. He was curled up, clutching his head, but there was no doubt he was still sleeping. He tossed a couple of times, his voice now weak and pleading. "Don't...please...don't kill them..."

Hastily, Sakura got up and ran over to him, falling to her knees beside his form. "Sasuke..."

"Don't touch them, get away!" Sasuke growled, face twisted in rage and agony. Hesitantly, Sakura rested a pale hand on his head. Running her fingers through his hair she attempted to calm him. At first his face remained with that expression on it but it slowly faded in a peaceful expression, his hands sliding off of the sides of his head.

"Shh...it's alright...just a bad dream..." she murmured, treading her fingers through his dark locks. The look of peace making its way onto his face made the woman smile softly.

"S-Sak...ura..." he whispered, fingers twitching ever so slightly.

There was a tree only inches away, Sakura shifted to lean up against it. Gently, she lifted Sasuke's head and rested it on her lap before continuing to sift her fingers through his hair. As she gazed down at the man Sakura smiled somewhat sadly. He had nightmares of his brother...

Her hand moved from his hair to his forehead, trailing across his temple and down his cheek. She ran the tips of her fingers across his lips. They were so soft...

"Mmm..." she hummed. "I still love you so much." A soft hand caressed his cheek for a while before venturing back to his hair and running through that once again. Her other hand found one of his and she fit her small hand in his large one. She hadn't meant to fall asleep like that, but when sleep washed over her there was nothing she could do to fight it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto and Hinata were the first ones up. Seeing the other spot beside him empty the blond man panicked at first. He calmed once a hand rested gently on his shoulder, Hinata gesturing towards their friends only feet away, Sakura perched up against a palm tree with Sasuke's head resting on her lap. Both looked so peaceful and content.

Without a word Naruto picked up a fruit and tossed it to his crush, the two of them walked off into the forest to start working without bothering their sleeping friends.

Eventually Sasuke sighed, slowly waking from his deep sleep. He didn't remember having a nightmare last night, but he felt as though his sleep had been restless at one point during the night. His heavy eyelids opened and he blinked, dark eyes adjusting to the light.

He realized his head was not on sand, but on soft fabric. His gaze drifted to look up at Sakura's face, an almost unnoticeable curl upwards to her lips as she slept. Just then he realized the slight weight a hand on the side of his head, another in the palm of his own hand.

_A nightmare,_ he said inwardly with hidden horror. He had nightmares of his brother ever since his clan was slaughtered by Itachi. He hadn't wanted anyone to know of these nightmares, it was embarrassing. _Sakura knows..._

Somehow he was at peace with that fact. It did not bother him one bit that the woman knew of his troubling dreams. She was there to comfort him, to ease his pain...he felt quite content knowing this.

_Why does she care so much_, he thought in frustration. All he had ever done was hurt her and push her away even though he considered her a close friend. _I don't deserve her care...her attention..._

Without knowing it his hand tightened around Sakura's. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. The feelings he had towards her were very confusing, different from what they had been before, but he had no idea how they were different or why. All Sasuke knew was that he looked at her differently now. Just recently it had come to his attention how caring the woman was to him even if his heart was made of ice. Another thing that had recently caught his attention was the beauty of her eyes...

_And her smile..._

Eyes snapping open he glared up at the leaves of the palm tree shading them from the intense sun. He was not the kind to think like that. He did not want to admit, even to himself, that he was falling for the pink-haired woman.

"Mmm..." Sakura yawned and shifted slightly. It wasn't long before her emerald orbs fluttered open and glanced down at Sasuke. He had shut his eyes once again, hoping that she would think he was asleep. Obviously it worked.

Groggily, Sakura smiled down at him and sighed, her hand in his hair once again starting to brush through it gently. Involuntarily Sasuke shivered because of her touch. He mentally cursed at himself, but Sakura hadn't seemed to notice. She continued to stare down at him, hand moving through his black hair. Her other hand gripped his a bit harder.

After a couple of minutes he let his eyes open and meet her's. "I wondered if you were awake," she murmured. Her stroking his hair did not cease. "You probably wonder why..."

"No, I know why," he whispered hoarsely. "I had a nightmare." He said the words as if it was no big deal.

She merely nodded, remaining silent as she gazed down at him. Sakura knew Sasuke well, she knew he didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't say anything else. After a minute she slipped her hand out of his and rose to her feet, Sasuke also rising.

When Sakura started to walk away Sasuke's stomach clenched. His hand caught her wrist and he hardly knew what he was doing. "Sakura..." he said softly. "Thank you."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The kunai Hinata was using had become dull and she had to use more force when trying to slice through the vines hanging from the trees. At some point a very tough vine caught the kunai and threw the woman off balance. Hinata fell forwards and into the mess of vines, trying to work her way out of them but just getting herself tangled in them even more.

She struggled, grunting and whimpering, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get free. She was just about to use her chakra to cut the vines off of herself when Naruto could be heard chuckling.

Her pearl-colored eyes followed the man as he trotted over to her. "Don't worry, Hinata, I will get you out of there!" he exclaimed, determined to free her from the green chords.

Naruto grabbed hold of a couple of vines and started to yank on them carelessly. His plan pretty much backfired. The man soon became tangled in the vines just as Hinata had, face to face with the woman.

Face red, Hinata squeaked when she realized how close they were. Naruto ignored the noise and stared at her, his cerulean eyes soon gazing into her pearl-colored ones. It took all of Hinata's self control to keep herself from fainting.

"While we're here..." Naruto breathed, a blush rising to his cheeks. "I might as well tell you."

"T-Tell m-m-m-me wh-what?" she stammered nervously, stomach tightening. His hot breath hitting her lips sent multiple shivers up her spine.

Naruto was as confident as ever as he smiled at the woman, eyes shimmering. "Hinata, I-" he paused for a moment, "like you."

Leaning forwards slightly he pressed his lips against her's lightly. When he drew away wide light gray orbs were staring at him in shock, Hinata's face as red as a tomato.

"I-I-I-I-I..." she stuttered. He kissed her again then pulled away after a couple of seconds. If it was possible the woman had gotten even redder. "L-L-Like y-you t-t-too." She managed to get those words out before she just couldn't take it anymore. Hinata fainted, Naruto grinning at the woman.

* * *

Well...NARUHINA! XD WOOT! AND SOME SASUSAKU! You can tell Sasuke is really starting to see Sakura in a new light. So...SasuSaku is coming up and NaruHina is HERE. Please review and tell me what you thought!


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry it took me so long to update. I've just been really busy even though I'm on summer break. I will try and update more frequently, but I can't make any promises. Here is some slight SasuSaku...I know you're still waiting for it. Enjoy.

* * *

-Chapter Nine-

"You really think so?" Sakura asked skeptically, earning a stiff nod from the monkey standing in front of her. Stealing a glance at Sasuke, she caught him turning away. He had been staring. Again. "I think he's just confused about something. That's the way he seems, anyways. Just plain puzzled."

Glaring slightly, the monkey pointed at him and beated it's chest then directed the finger to Sakura. It had done that only a minute ago. The pink-haired woman wanted to believe what the monkey was trying to tell her, but she just couldn't imagine Sasuke ever having feelings like that for her. He had been acting differently lately, a lot different. He had been acting _fun_. Nice even. That's what it seemed like, anyways. But she noticed that confused gleam in his eyes whenever he looked at her, a look like he wasn't sure what he was seeing.

"Maybe." The monkey nodded once again. They stood there in silence for a while before Sakura started to giggle. "You know, you need a name. How about Saru?" Grinning, the monkey jumped up and down, obviously content with that name.

She looked over at Sasuke again but he didn't turn away this time. He stood there, blank stare fixed on Sakura. "Are you going to help me or just talk to that stupid monkey all day?" he snapped, spinning around to face the furniture he was making for the shelter. Smiling slightly, Sakura patted Saru on the head and trotted over to where Sasuke was working.

"By the way, his name is Saru."

Shifting his head slightly, Sasuke caught her eyes with his. "You gave it a name?"

"Yes. And I like that name. Don't you?"

The man just snorted, turning to once again concentrate on his work. Sakura moved around to see what he was doing. He was attempting to design a chair for them to sit in. It looked very sturdy and neatly put together, the only thing he needed to do was finish putting the seat part and the back part on it, something that Sakura could help him do so that it wouldn't take as long.

Slim fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulled his hand away from the project, the other one ceasing to work. "You've been working on it for quite a while. You should take a break. I haven't been much help today, now is the time I can make up for it." Drawing his limb away from her slowly, letting her fingers slide over his skin, he wondered what this unknown feeling washing over him was. The place where she had gripped him was tingling, his heart beating harder than usual and his mouth suddenly dry.

Not wanting to risk making a fool of himself by talking, he simply shook his head 'no' to indicate that he wanted to continue working on it and that he didn't need a break. Sakura merely shrugged and started weaving strips of banana leaves to make the back of the chair. When she ran out of the item she needed she started towards the pile they had not too far away. Even being a ninja, she was not the most graceful person ever. The pink-haired kunoichi tripped over her own feet, sending her towards the sandy ground face first.

A muscular arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her firmly to her feet before she got a mouthful of sand. Sasuke took a couple hasty steps back after she was balanced. The woman turned to look at him, gratitude mixed with confusion shining in her eyes. He knew she was wondering why he was suddenly being so kind. Sasuke himself didn't even know why, he just didn't feel like it was right to be mean with her when she actually made him happy. At that second a realization hit Sasuke right in the face and he spun around, saying, "I think I will take a break, actually." With Sakura staring after him, he sped off into the forest.

When he was out of sight her green eyes moved to look over at Saru, who had been watching the whole scene from the shadows of a tree. The only think the monkey did was nod.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

He could do this all day long. Naruto was currently admiring Hinata's features as he remained hanging in the vines with her, the woman still out of it. She was so beautiful, she had such a kind and caring look to her...

A rustle came from behind him and Naruto turned his head just enought to see Sasuke's figure appearing. "Sasuke, good thing you're here. We got stuck in here and I-...Sasuke?" The raven-haired man was obviously not listening, too preoccupied with his thoughts. "Sasuke?" The man rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply, eventually lifting his gaze to his best friend. "Is something wrong?"

"Why? Does it look like something is wrong?"

The blond was surprised at how fast Sasuke was talking, how his voice wavered at times. It wasn't only his voice that gave it away, Naruto could see just enough of Sasuke's eyes that he just knew something was not right. The man looked completely and totally frustrated and lost. It was at times like these that Naruto remembered that Sasuke was not as strong and sure as he let on he was. The Uchiha was human too, he had feelings and difficulties just like everyone else did, he just didn't show it.

"Sasuke, something is wrong. I can tell."

"Naruto, I...I'm confused." The said man stared at his best friend. Since when did the last Uchiha, one of the strongest shinobi in Konoha, the _human ice cube_, actually _admit_ his _feelings_? Even Sasuke himself blinked a couple of times in disbelief of his previous statement. This went to show that after he returned to Konoha years ago he really had started to open up slowly, more so to Naruto than anyone. The loud-mouth was his best friend, and even if the male was immature at times, Sasuke knew he could trust him and confide in him. Not like he would ever admit he could do that though. "Sakura..." was all the Sharingan user could utter.

Mouth hanging open after the information registered in Naruto's mind, he stared at Sasuke with wide eyes. "Are you trying to tell me you...you..."

"She's a good friend," Sasuke whispered, holding Naruto's gaze firmly with his own. "I don't love her. But I just realized that I...like her." There were so many things he could have told Naruto at that moment about Sakura. The woman had always been there for him through thick and thin, caring for him, loving him, protecting him...kind of like his mother had, but in a different way. She made him happy, and just recently he had figured that out. It was Sakura who made him happy, who actually gave him _hope_ that he could live a good life, a life without revenge and with love and friendship instead.

Instead of being replied to with a laugh, Sasuke was met with an understanding white-toothed smile. Not thinking clearly, Sasuke actually smiled back. "You know, Sasuke, I bet she would love your smile. It's a shame you never show it."

Immediately after those words were said, Sasuke's smile faded into an intense frown. "I know that I can't please her...she deserves much better than me. I knocked her out the night I left...after she confessed her feelings for me...I pushed her away like always."

As much as Naruto felt like giving the man hope by telling him that Sakura's feelings had not changed, he decided that in time Sakura would once again tell him if things turned out right. "You can be a better person if you want to be. You've definitely changed over the last couple of years, there is still more time to change. If you like her then open up, don't be afraid to express your feelings. Most of all, make her feel loved. I'm not saying you need to do dramatic things to make her feel that way and you don't need to start now, but if you like her like you say you do, then at least do small things so that she knows you care for her."

Sasuke nodded, his ego diminishing every second. He was getting advice from _Naruto_ of all people. And the idiot actually sounded mature when he talked like that. Most of all, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. But how would Naruto...Sasuke then raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to Hinata?" he asked, suddenly changing the subject.

Grinning widely, Naruto said triumphantly, "I kissed her!" Closing his eyes for a long moment, Sasuke took in a breath, digesting the news. "I told her I liked her than I kissed her. She told me she liked me too...and then she fainted. We kind of, uh, got stuck in these vines here. Would you help me out?"

"No." Smirking, Sasuke turned to start walking away.

"I give you advice and you just turn your back on me when I need help?" Naruto shrieked, starting to thrash his limbs. He started to become more tangled in the forest green vines when a strong hand grabbed his arm.

"Calm down, idiot. You're just making it worse." Sasuke started to unwind the man from the vines, the blond eventually freed from the prison and standing, swining his arms and sighing in relief. "I'll help you get Hinata untangled." The two men worked on that and soon the woman was resting in Naruto's arms, his cerulean eyes scanning over her face as a smile played across his lips. Even as he looked up and around the area the smile remained. His gaze locked on a certain item and then his smile turned into a grin as an idea hit him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Go on!" Naruto urged, giving Sasuke a shove. The raven-haired man stumbled out from the forest and into plain view for Sakura, who was looking up from her work on the chair. Were her eyes decieving her, or was he blushing slightly? And was that a brilliant red flower held in his right hand?

As he approached the female she raised an eyebrow, lips curling on one side. "What's that?"

Determined to get this over with, Sasuke glanced off to the side and thrust the flower at her. Sakura hadn't known what it was for, but she certainly hadn't even thought he would give it to her. That thought hadn't even crossed her mind. Baffled, she took the flower from him and smiled. "I just found it in the forest and thought you would like it," Sasuke explained, hoping it wouldn't sound too heartfelt and give it away that he really liked her.

"Thank you," Sakura whispered hoarsely, wondering how Sasuke could act so sweet. Naruto watched from the outskirts of the forest, grinning like crazy. Hinata was perched up against a tree not too far away. She was really missing out on this.

He turned and started working on the chair just as he had been before he left, leaving Sakura stare at him with questioning eyes. She lifted the flower to her nose and inhaled, taking in it's scent.

* * *

I know, it's probably the shortest chapter ever. But like I said, I have a lot to do this summer. It's the best I can do right now. If I write short parts like this I might be able to update more frequently than writing a novel and updating every five billion months. Okay? Did you like the slight SasuSaku? More to come soon, I promise. Please review, I love it when you do that!


	10. Chapter 10

Wow, my summer has been busy so far. I haven't had a lot of time to think about what I want to write for my other story The Uchiha Chronicles, so I don't know when I will get that updated. It won't be too terribly long, though. Please be patient. Here is more of this story, though! Enjoy!

Also, thanks for the 100+ reviews! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

* * *

-Chapter Ten-

"That is such a cute story," Sakura giggled as she and Hinata sat together. Swinging their feet, they gazed down at the two men that were working together to make furniture for their new home. They were currently placed in a tree that overlooked the beach and Hinata had just finished telling Sakura about Naruto's confession and her own while they were in the forest together. "I'm glad he finally made a move. You've waited so long to be with him and now you finally can be."

Sighing heavily, Hinata shifted on the branch, pearl eyes dropping to gaze at the sandy ground. Although she was ecstatic about what had happened between her and her crush she somehow didn't think it was quite fair that she got the man she wanted while Sakura got nothing. The pink-haired woman had liked Sasuke for the same amount of time Hinata had liked Naruto, if not longer. "You've waited a long time, too. It doesn't seem fair that I get Naruto but you still don't have Sasuke." Those words caused Sakura to fix an intense glare on the woman as she said harshly, "Don't even say that, Hinata. That's not what you should be focused on after what happened. You should be focused on how much you like Naruto and how he likes you back, not worrying about how Sasuke still hates me."

Slender fingers cupped Sakura's shoulder and soft eyes smiled at her. "He doesn't hate you."

"He dislikes me."

"I honestly think he actually has feelings for you, Sakura."

Snorting, Sakura shrugged the other female's hand off her shoulder, mouth set in a straight line as she stared down at Sasuke as he worked on making a bed. "You and Saru both think that. I'm not really sure. I know he has changed quite a bit in the past couple of years. He has opened up just a little bit more. I think he likes me as a friend and nothing more. It's just me wishing he would like me for more."

Instead of staying on the depressing topic of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, Hinata asked with a raised eyebrow, "Who's Saru?" The kunoichi beside her let out a low laugh and mumbled something about the monkey and Hinata nodded in understanding.

Naruto waved to them with both hands, his mouth set as a grin. "I'm hungry! Can we eat now? Please? Come on, I'm so hungry! Get down here and let's eat!" Sasuke whirled around and shoved the man away from him, hissing, "Idiot, don't yell right in my ear!"

Their teammate rolled her emerald orbs and hopped out of the tree, Hinata following soon after. Naruto raced over to the two, still grinning. He seemed to be in a freakishly good mood ever since he had told Hinata how he felt and recieved the same thoughts from her in return.

"Sakura..." he whined, "what are we going to eat? I'm starving. You don't happen to know how to make ramen from scratch, do you? Oh...I wish you did..." The woman punched him on the head and shrieked, "You're an idiot! How would I get the ingredients to make the noodles?"

"Well, I just thought maybe..."

"You thought what? That just maybe I had magical powers and could summon bowls of ramen to our island? Naruto, we're stranded on an island and all you can think about is your _ramen_?"

Hinata stepped in between the two and then stepped towards Naruto, linking her arm through his and pulling him away from Sakura. "Please don't mind him, Sakura. He's just really hungry."

Her hands came to rest on her stomach and she sighed. "I guess I am just really hungry, too. Makes me more moody than usual. The only meat we can really have right now is the fish that we caught." An idea suddenly popped up in her mind and she squealed, all eyes directing to her. "I saw a boar when I was on the other island! We should kill it and eat it!" She salivating just thinking about the meat they could have if they did that.

Naruto almost started drooling, too. Meat sounded really good to him at that moment. Sasuke and Hinata secretly wanted meat badly, too.

"We'll go tomorrow," Sakura decided. "Naruto and I will go tomorrow and kill the boar."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

An orange glow was cast across Konoha as the sun sunk lower in the sky. Kakashi Hatake, book pulled out and being put to use, was strolling down the street on his way to the Hokage's office. Only a couple minutes ago had he received a letter from the blond Sannin, summoning him to her quarters.

When he arrived, he didn't even bother knocking on the door, he just entered and said in a monotone, "You wanted to see me?"

"You really should learn some manners and knock before entering," Tsunade said, chocolate brown eyes casting him a disapproving look. "Yes, I wanted to see you. You see, I received a letter from the people that hired us to send shinobi for their use. It seems that Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata did not make it there. They say that they should have been there days ago but they were waiting to contact us incase it was only a slight delay." Perching her elbows up on her desk, Tsunade leaned forwards slightly, revealing her clevage even more.

Kakashi was distracted for a moment, one visible eye fixed on her enormous chest. When Tsunade cleared her throat, he lifted his gaze to peer into her narrowed eyes. "They're missing? I don't know what could have happened to them..."

"I was thinking about the storm that came through the other day. They were traveling by boat to the place that hired our shinobi. The only reasonable explanation is that they are shipwrecked."

"Shipwrecked," Kakashi said simply, blinking a couple of times. "Couldn't they just focus chakra to their feet and run back here?"

Tsunade dropped her hand to a handle of a drawer on her desk and slid it open, taking out a map and unrolling it. She smoothed it out on the small open space she had on her desk and pointed to the stretch of water that the four were traveling only days before. "It's possible that they don't know which direction home is in. If they do, it would be hard for them to travel that far across the water without using up all their chakra."

The silver-haired man nodded and closed his book, sliding it into his back pocket. He made his way closer and bent his head, peering at the map himself. "Hmm...I see. What do you suppose we do about it?"

"Well," Tsunade started, grabbing a bottle of sake that was resting only inches away, "I want to send you out to find them with a team of ANBU."

"ANBU? Why them?"

After taking a long swig of her drink, the woman answered, "Those four are some of the best shinobi in Konoha. I can't afford to loose the future Hokage and my very skilled apprentice and Hinata is from a very powerful Clan in our village. I hate to say it, but I can't afford to loose Orochimaru's apprentice either. He betrayed us when he was younger, but now he's back, and that Uchiha boy has skills. I must say, Kakashi, you trained quite a team."

A blush rose to the man's face at the compliment. He scratched the back of his head and chuckled. "Well, what can I say? It definitely wasn't easy...but I am very pleased with what they have become, even if I'm not the one that continued to train them. I kind of grew to think of them as my own children. They still visit me and hang out with me, you know."

Tsunade nodded firmly. "Yes, yes. Well, I will send you and a team of ANBU out at dawn tomorrow morning, traveling the waters by boat." Kakashi nodded. "Meet at them at the gates at dawn. They will know what to do and where to go." With that, Kakashi nodded and spun, starting to walk out of Tsunade's office. His hand went to his back pocket and retrieved his manga book. "Oh, and Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

He turned slightly, his one regular eye locking with her set of deep brown ones. "I don't want you back until you find them." Under the mask, Tsunade knew the man was smiling in determination.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was after dinner, the sun almost gone from sight. Hinata, Sasuke, and Sakura were all in the forest taking a stroll. Even being stranded on an island people needed some leisure time. Naruto was still back on the beach eating. He was like a human vaccuum cleaner.

"Hey, what's this?" Hinata asked, stopping to observe a huge slab of rock that was placed flatly on the ground. She hadn't noticed it before while in the forest, none of them had. She stepped up onto it and scanned the pictures and unknown words carved into the hard surface. Curiously, Sakura also stepped onto it and started staring. Sasuke just stood off to the side, arms crossed and a blank expression plastered on his face.

Sakura soon looked over at him, smirking. "You know you want to know about this," she teased. Sighing, Sasuke got onto the piece of rock and went to stand at her side, eyebrows pulling inwards as he looked down at the carvings in confusion.

"What are these?" he mumbled, mostly to himself.

When Sakura's eyes landed on the imprint of a hand, she bent down to get a closer look. This had to be from an old civilization. The imprint looked to be about the size of her hand. To compare, she placed her hand into the dip in the stone.

Only seconds later a low scraping sound could be heard as the rock beneath them trembled.

Reacting quickly, Sasuke yelled, "Get off the rock!" His words came out too late because the three of them went descending into the darkness as the stone slid out from under them and into the ground beside.

Hinata and Sakura were the only ones that screamed as they fell through the darkness, they couldn't even tell if Sasuke was with them or if he had managed to jump off the rock right before it moved. It wasn't a long fall, they hit the bottom only seconds later, the scraping sound ceasing after the rock once again shifted to trap them, leaving them in complete darkness.

In the darkness, Sakura crawled about, one hand outstretched as she frantically searched for her best friend and crush. "Hinata? Sasuke?"

"Hn." Knowing that he was fine, Sakura then said a little louder, "Hinata?"

"I'm over here," a meek voice replied. Pinpointing the her location by hearing that, Sakura crawled over to where her friend was and grabbed her arm. "What happened? We were just standing on the rock then it suddenly slid out from beneath us."

"I pressed my hand into the imprint of the hand on the edge of it," Sakura admitted.

"Hn," they heard Sasuke snort.

Sakura crawled over to him in the darkness and he watched her, Sharingan activated. "You know what?" she spat, jabbing him in the chest. It was amazing how just hearing someone's voice could tell her exactly where they were. "Shut up, Sasuke." It was hard to tell if she was teasing or if she was serious, but it didn't seem like she was in a playful mood.

Moving away from her face, Sasuke's eyes ran over the area. It was not a very large space that they were in and it was about thirty down from the surface. The blood-red eyes caught sight of bones, human bones. Skulls and rib cages were the most obvious to pick out of them.

"I think there is something you two should see," Sasuke muttered. "Hinata, come over here." She made her way over to them without trouble since she had activated her Byakugan. To conserve chakra, she deactivated her bloodline trait and sat beside the pink-haired woman. Sasuke used a fire jutsu to light up the space they were in, shadows dancing across the walls as Sakura and Hinata laid eyes on the bones.

Letting out a shriek, Sakura launched herself at Sasuke and caught him around the waist, burying her head into his shirt. Hinata merely inhaled sharply and turned her head so that she couldn't see the remains of former humans anymore.

"This must have been some sort of sacrifice chamber from an ancient civilization. It seems that way, anyways." Fire was no longer being emitted and the room was once again dark, Sakura still clinging to him, but the man hardly noticed. "The pictures carved into the rock that we were standing on earlier were of people being thrown into a hole as a sacrifice. This must be that hole."

Sakura, keeping her arms around Sasuke, said into his shirt, "Let's just hope that Naruto will be smart enough to figure out what happened to us and get us out."

Agreeing with her, Sasuke nodded even though she couldn't see him. Hinata opened her mouth to say something about Naruto not being as stupid as everyone thought, but she couldn't find her voice. Crossing her arms, she sat indian-style on the ground beside the two others trapped with her.

With a sudden idea, Sakura quickly pulled away from Sasuke and stood up. Focusing chakra to her feet, she ran up the wall and then brought chakra to her hand, slamming it into the stone that had covered the opening. A _crack_ could be heard, but nothing happened other than that. "This is really strong," Sakura sighed, walking back down to where the other two were.

Three pairs of eyes widened when they heard more cracking and shifting from the item that Sakura had just hit. Without much thought, Sasuke stood swiftly and pounced on the kunoichi only inches away, taking her to the ground with him as the layer of rock started to fall. Hands on either side of her head, Sasuke held himself up over her, rocks beating down on his body. It took Hinata a second to realize what was going on, but when she did she cast a protective shield over their small area near the corner.

Sharp slabs of rock fell to the other side of the area they were in when they bounced off the shield made of chakra. Up on her knees, Hinata continued to move her hands about rapidly, maintaining the flow of chakra.

Now knowing that his teammate was protected from the falling rocks, Sasuke attempted to get up. Hissing as he inhaled, the man rolled back onto his knees and Sakura slid out from under him, a worried gaze already fixed on his pained expression. "I'm sorry," she whispered, realizing it was her fault that the rocks had tumbled down on them.

At that point her medic instincts kicked in and she put an arm around the front of him, leaning him forwards a bit to examine his back. Two sharp rocks stuck in his back, his shirt dyed red from the crimson liquid seeping from his wounds. Sakura took hold of one of the rocks and pulled it out carefully then did the same with the other. Once she did that, the woman forced healing chakra to her hand and pressed it against one of Sasuke's wounds. It took about a minute to heal before she moved to the next. After his wounds had vanished, Sakura started examining his arms and the back of his head.

"I'm fine, Sakura," he grumbled, pulling away from her. Awkwardly, he added, "Thank you." It was getting a bit easier for him to say those words now, to her at least.

"No, thank you," she whispered, bowing her head. "I guess it was a stupid idea."

Sasuke nodded while smirking. "It was, but at least we can get out of here now."

Hinata's barrier of chakra faded as she let her hands drop to her sides, panting. She smiled over at Sakura, a hidden meaning in it. Standing up, Sakura jabbed her friend in the side. "Shut up, Hinata." A soft giggle emerged from the Hyuga female's mouth before the three of them made their way up the wall and back into the forest.

* * *

Ah, a bit more SasuSaku. And they're still not together. I know you hate me for it, too. I don't think you'll have to wait too much longer! Thanks for reading! Please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Wow, sorry it took so long to update. Many things to do this summer...I had a hard time writing with all the stuff I've been having to do. Good thing I got this up right before I go on vacation, right? Here you go, sorry for the wait! Thanks for all the reviews! I love you guys!

* * *

-Chapter Eleven-

Naruto ran to his friends, arms flailing. "Where were you guys? I was starting to get worried!" His cerulean eyes scanned the three people. Concerned, he went to Hinata. "Are you okay? You're all covered in dirt..."

Poking her fingers together shyly, she nodded. Sakura crossed her arms and let out a huffy sigh. "Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Oh, Sakura, are you okay?" Naruto screeched.

A laugh escaped her mouth. "I'm fine, Naruto. I was just teasing you." She jabbed the man in the side, a wide smile plastered on her face. "I knew it." She was referring to how Naruto liked Hinata like she liked Sasuke, but the blond didn't catch on.

"Knew what?"

The pink-haired woman rolled her eyes and trudged back towards the beach, shaking her head slighlty. Cautiously, Naruto reached out and took one of Hinata's hands in his, glancing back and forth between their hands and her face. The woman was starting to become flushed but she smiled at the man, holding back giggles.

Sasuke smirking, seeing the two like that. They certainly were happy together...

He sighed. All his life he had been searching for some sort of happiness, but it had never occured to him that what would make him happy was _Sakura_. It was clear to him now that she made him happy, but he just had to stay away from her. For her sake.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Again the man on the opposite side of the firepit was having nightmares. It felt like someone was gripping Sakura's heart and squeezing it when she heard him whimper and roll over repeatedly. She got up and went over to him just as she had last time, kneeling down beside him.

Hovering over him, she placed a small hand on one side of his face and caressed it lightly. "Shh..." she soothed, the pain in his expression easing away slowly. It was amazing to her of what kind of affect she had like that. A small pang of hope hit her heart as she realized that just maybe he did have feelings for her. The weak smile that had grown on her face soon faded into a frown when she pushed the thought from her head. Sasuke would never like her that way, only ever as a close friend. But she just couldn't help but love him as more than that.

He seemed to now be sleeping peacefully, his breathing light and shallow and face relaxed. Staring down at him, the woman sighed, continuing to run her fingers gently across his cheek.

It was hard for her, knowing that the person she loved would never love her back. She didn't want to be single her whole life, but the only person she wanted was Sasuke. Before she knew it, tears were sliding down her cheeks. She almost chuckled softly. She got emotional about everything.

Overwhelmed with all her thoughts about the man, she leaned down further, heart aching as she did so. Ever so softly she kissed him on the forehead.

Starting to draw away, she froze and tensed, eyes widening, when a masculine hand came to rest on the side of her face. "Sakura," Sasuke whispered, eyes open all the way and staring at the woman leaning over him. He shook his head slightly against the sand. "You're crying."

Oh, he hated it when she cried. It just hurt him somehow...more now than it ever had.

"Sasuke...y-you..." She stumbled over her words, the orange glow from the small bit of fire still burning their only source of light. "Sasuke...you're awake..."

Nodding he sat up, the kunoichi shifting away so that they didn't bump into each other. He rubbed the sleep from his dark gray eyes before focusing them on the woman who was brushing her tears away with the back of her hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she sighed. Her tears proved otherwise so she said, "I'm just stressed out from being stuck here on this island. I want to go home." Sasuke nodded, pretending to buy the story, but he knew it was something else completely. "Surely someone got news that we didn't get to where we were supposed to, right? Do you think they are out looking for us?"

In thought, Sasuke looked up at the sky. "Yeah, they probably are." Sakura, too, looked up towards the night sky, a weak smiled forming on her face.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Eh, Sakura, what's wrong?" Naruto said after the two of them made it to the other island the next day, as promised. Emerald green shifted to look at the blond but she said nothing. "You can tell me. I know something is wrong."

Coming to a stop, Naruto faced her, staring down at her with large blue eyes. "I'm going to be alone for my whole life," she mumbled pathetically. "Sasuke will never love me. I know this...but...I still can't move on. I am going to love him for the rest of my life, ultimately ruining my chances of being with anyone else." She shook her head, pink hair swaying. "When I was younger the fact of being single my whole life seemed impossible, but now I realize how possible it truly is." Heaving a sigh she turned and started into the unexplored forest. "You're like a brother to me, but maybe I shouldn't have been picky and maybe I should have given Lee a chance. But...I just couldn't. Sasuke meant too much to me, I just couldn't think of having another person to adore that way."

Trailing along behind the woman, Naruto remained quiet for a while, carrying a sharpened spear in one hand. Their goal was to kill the boar and bring it back to the other island, it was as simple as that.

Scratching his chin, Naruto said, "Just give him some more time. Maybe he does like you as more than a friend." The hyperactive ninja wanted so badly to tell his best girl friend that Sasuke truly did have romantic feelings towards her and not to fret, but he had a duty as a best friend to keep it a secret. Besides, he wouldn't want to ruin it for Sasuke, it would mean so much more if he confessed to her and she had no idea. It wouldn't have as much meaning if Sakura already knew and just had to keep waiting and waiting for Sasuke to say something, but knowing the woman she probably wouldn't even wait, she would just tackle Sasuke and start making out with him.

"I highly doubt it. If so, he sure does take his time with these kinds of things." Trudging along, Sakura crossed her arms.

It wasn't long before the two were about halfway up a mountain, searching for the boar. There was a very large ledge on the mountain, grass covering most of it. They stopped to take a break, sitting side-by-side on the ground.

"You sure you saw a boar here?"

"Would I lie about such a thing?" Sakura snapped back.

Silence lulled between the two for a couple of minutes before that was broken by the rustling of bushes. Both glanced behind them to a patch of thick, dark green bushes. They moved again. A large boar suddenly darted out of the foliage and ran directly towards them, squealing loudly.

Naruto hopped up to his feet, and with one good aim, nailed the animal right between the eyes. It dropped over, dead, crimson liquid oozing out of its head.

Raising her eyebrows, Sakura smiled. "Nice one."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Boldly, Hinata confronted Sasuke while their two friends were gone. She faced him, looking him straight in the eyes, and said, "We need to talk."

"This is about Sakura." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Hinata nodded in confirmation. They two started strolling along the beach, Sasuke with his hands in his pockets and Hinata with her arms crossed. The two never had gotten along well, with their Clans being rivals and everything and just also because Sasuke had hurt Sakura so badly before.

Hinata glanced over at the stoic man with her pearl-colored eyes. "I know you like her," Hinata said softly. His gaze shot over to her, instantly questioning her. "I can just tell. You've been acting differently lately, you know. Of course she is oblivious, but that doesn't mean I am." Freezing, she turning to face him, a serious expression plastered on her face. "She will wait for you her whole life, Sasuke. Why don't you just tell her already?"

Eyes locked on the sandy ground, Sasuke shook his head. It was easy to talk to Hinata, she was shy and reserved most of the time like he was. She could keep a secret and he knew it.

"She deserves better than me."

Closing her eyes, Hinata sighed, her head shaking. "She doesn't _want_ anyone better than you. To her, you _are_ the best. Nothing has changed since you left, Sasuke."

Hopeful onyx eyes soon met those of the Hyuga woman. "You mean...she really does still love me?" All of this was quite pathetic for an Uchiha, but Sasuke wasn't exactly paying attention to how much feeling he was showing at the moment. What was important to him was getting the answers he needed and also the advice from Sakura's best friend that was much needed. The only response he received was a firm nod. "I really care about her, but I want her to move on. How could she ever be happy with someone like me?"

Hinata reached up and gave his arm a light pat. "To be truthful, you've changed, even if it's only slightly. You're opening up more, showing more emotion. But the point is, Sakura fell in love with you and has never fallen out of love with you. She's still waiting. She'll love you for who you are no matter what."

"She doesn't need me..."

Suddenly, the woman was glared. "I don't think you know how wrong you are about that."

Taken aback by the words, Sasuke wondered why he hadn't sensed Sakura's strong feelings for him before having to be told that she still loved him.

"She's afraid you're going to hurt her again."

"That's the last thing I want to do right now," Sasuke deadpanned. "I'm not telling her how I feel because I want her to find someone better and live a happy life. She's always wanted me to be happy, so I'm returning the favor."

Hinata then, face flushed from anger, jabbed him in the chest. This was one of those times when her _other_ side showed, the side she had developed from being around Sakura for so long. "Didn't you hear me the _first_ time? _Sakura doesn't want anyone better than you._ You're enough to make her happy, can't you see that?"

Sasuke once again returned his gaze to the ground, moving some sand around with his foot. He sighed. Hinata touched him on the arm lightly which caused him to look at her once again.

"Sakura loves you and she needs you, Sasuke. She will be happy with you and you will be happy with her." Staring into her eyes, he knew she meant what she said. Her face held a look of such sincerity that he almost shivered. "You say you don't want to hurt her, but not acting upon your feelings is hurting her. She's really confused about what you think of her right now. Tell her. And don't ever hurt her again."

Loud splashing could be heard as Naruto and Sakura crossed back over the strip of water to their main island. They weren't quite to the beach yet, but they weren't too far away. Sasuke looked at Hinata with the ghost of a smile upon his face, which was thanking her. She nodded, turning and sprinting across the small space of water to help Naruto carry the boar the rest of the way back to shore.

The green-eyed kunoichi waved her hands in the air for Sasuke to see, tomatoes held in both. He smirked on the outside, but one the inside he genuinely smiled. Sakura always took good care of him.

* * *

So, now that Hinata got Sasuke to realize that he needs to let Sakura know how he feels...SASUSAKU IS ON THE WAY! Guarenteed SasuSaku goodness in the next chapter, okay? Thanks! Reviews would be very nice and awesome!


	12. Chapter 12

You guys...I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. Just...school started and I have been busy with homework and housework and band and everything. But I'm getting part of the story to you now. Thank you to everyone who waited so long for SasuSaku. Although there is only going to be a little bit in this very, and I mean very, short chapter, I hope you like it. I promise there will be more.

* * *

-Chapter Twelve-

As soon as they possibly could, the four ninja cooked the meat over the fire and ate as much as their stomachs would hold. Because of their feast all four of them were in a good mood. A few of them started to yawn, the heat and their full stomachs making them tired.

It wasn't long before Naruto and Hinata both were resting against the sand, their eyes closed and their breathing starting to become heavy and even. Before he was fully asleep, Naruto reached over and wrapped an arm around Hinata, pulling her close. Sleepily, she had merely let out a very soft "eep" in surprise before relaxing in his grip.

"Come on, let's go explore a little," Sakura said, standing up and brushing some sand off of her tattered outfit. Not having anything better to do, Sasuke followed his comrade into the forest where they found a cave. Inside, Sakura started running her fingers against the walls, tracing hieroglyphs. "This place is so mysterious, you know? I wish I understood what this meant." Sasuke only nodded in response and turned his attetion to the pictures carved into the wall.

There were pictures of animals being praised, some being sacrificed. He supposed it told a story of the people that had lived there long ago, but just as Sakura, he couldn't put it all together and understand what it meant.

Sighing, Sakura made her way a little further into the cave, taking a seat on a large rock at the side. She was so far back that the light was dim, making it hard for her to see.

"Want a tomato?" she asked, waving one in the air for her companion to see. He hadn't known she had brought anything with them.

He took a seat beside her and took the fruit from her, biting into it and savoring the taste. From the corner of his eye his watched her bite into her own tomato.

Without warning his heart started to race. Before he had even thought about it, his heart had told him it was the right time to try and tell her how he felt. "What you said to me the night I left Konoha," Sasuke started, the pink-haired woman freezing, eyes wide. "You meant it, didn't you?"

"Of course," she whispered in reply, the subject obviously quite touchy to her. "I don't just say things like that for the heck of it, Sasuke."

In silence, he finished off his tomato. Sakura had been staring at him for a while, her food only half eaten. When he glanced over at her, apparently not going to say anything else to her at the moment, she started to eat again.

Onyx eyes watched as she raised the last bit of tomato to her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. Her rosy lips were shimmering with the juice from his favorite food, and he hadn't known he was leaning towards her until his lips brushed her's. Shocked at what he had just done, he stood up quickly so that she couldn't see his facial expression, his hand rubbing the back of his neck which was turning red from embarrassment.

The woman was keeping silent, she was too surprised and confused to say anything. Gazing at the back of his head in question, she wondered why he had done what he had.

The kiss had tasted like his favorite food and he found himself having to restrain himself from turning around and doing it again. He thought she could hear his heart because it was beating so violently. The last time it had beat that hard...was when he had killed his brother.

"Sa-Sasuke," she mumbled, standing up. He turned slightly, onyx meeting teary emerald. "I'm so confused."

"You're not the only one," he grumbled so softly she almost didn't catch the words. Lightly she touched his arm, cautiously, hoping he wouldn't draw away from the touch. He didn't. She was testing to see how far she could get without him pushing her away, and even after the brief kiss, she knew kissing was beyond limits unless he initiated it again. Arms encircled him by the waist and she held onto him, his warmth enveloping her.

"I still feel the same way," she whispered, eyes closed as she held onto him tightly. She didn't want him to get away from her this time. He didn't respond, he didn't even move, but she could hear his heart racing. The fact that he might not share her feelings, though, gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach and her throat started to swell with a batch of tears.

She started to pull away but strong arms snaked around her and held her firmly in place. Sakura knew this was the only way he could express how he was feeling, and even though it wasn't words, it still meant something to her. She knew he cared, that he had the same feelings. Knowing this, tears started to slide down her cheeks and were absorbed by his dark shirt. She had wanted this for the majority of her life and now he had finally showed interest in her.

He sighed but did not release her. "You know what annoys me the most?" Nothing but her head moved as she raised it to peer up at the man in question, cheeks still wet. "Your crying." He would simply leave it at that, he wasn't going to say if it was when she wailed and it gave him a headache or if he just felt bad when she cried. She didn't know which of the two it was, but at that moment, she didn't care, she just smiled.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The two had went back to the beach to find their friends just waking up from their nap. Sasuke and Sakura acted as if nothing had just happened, but both knew that had a new kind of connection. They were not dating, but both knew how the other felt, and with that much information they were just friends with benefits.

"Wow, that food knocked me out!" Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. Hinata was trying to smooth her hair out and make it look a bit better.

A shrill scream came from somewhere within the forest, all four heads whipping in that direction at the same time. It wasn't long before Saru stumbled out of the foliage and rushed over to the group, bouncing and pointing out to the water. The shinobi looked and looked but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The monkey continued to urge them to look out across the water. A ship then rounded the side of the island.

Naruto leapt to his feet and started waving frantically and yelling for help. The raven-haired man had activated his Sharingan and could tell that the people in the boat were ninja. He focused on their headbands then his eyes widened. Tackling Naruto into the sand, he slammed his hand over his comrades mouth and hissed, "Shut up, idiot." The blond was still trying to yell, but this time it was directed at Sasuke.

Jerking his head in Sakura's direction, he whispered quickly, "It's Sound. I want you and Hinata to get out of here, hide."

"We'll be in the cave," Sakura replied, grabbing Hinata's hand and helping her to her feet. "Deep in the cave." As Sakura and Hinata ran off towards the trees, the pink-haired woman glanced back at him in concern. "Be careful."

He nodded and let Naruto up, his friend now silenced. They leapt behind the half-built shelter in hopes of the enemy shinobi passing, but they did not, they had already seen the people stranded on the island. Sasuke let out a growl in irritation when the ship got the beach and the ninja hopped off. He and Naruto then stepped out to greet their unwanted guests.

* * *

So, I left you at a bit of a cliffhanger there. Sorry for such the short chapter, but it's been so long that I thought you deserved something and I can't type a lot or else it would take like...a really long time. So be thankful I updated, even. Please review! THANK YOU! More SasuSaku is on the way.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry its been so long. Life has been hectic lately and I haven't had as much time to write. I'll try and get chapters up sooner, but I can't guarentee anything. Anyways, sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

-Chapter Thirteen-

"Why are you here?" Sasuke demanded to know after cautiously letting the Sound ninja approach him and his best friend. When he got no response, he growled threateningly. Naruto got into an attack positing beside the Uchiha.

The six Sound ninja merely stood there, not moving to attack and not speaking. Finally, the smallest of them all, took a slow step forwards. "We're on a certain mission." Smirking, the woman raised an eyebrow. "Why so hostile? You should be greatful we stopped, Sasuke Uchiha." It was no surprise that they knew his name, he had spent a number of years with the Sound. The first time Orochimaru had needed a new vessel after Sasuke's departure from Konoha, Sasuke had been on a mission for him. The snake sannin had to use someone different for his vessel and was forced to wait three more years to use Sasuke. At seventeen, Sasuke ran away from the Sound and killed his brother, leaving Orochimaru without a vessel. Many ninja directed by Orochimaru had hunted him down but could never get him back in time for Orochimaru's next body change. Sasuke hadn't known what happened to him, but he supposed he just found someone else. It was apparent that Orochimaru was still after him, though.

The biggest one of the group laughed bitterly. "You always run away from everything, Sasuke. When Master Orochimaru needs you the most you take off, even after all he has done for you."

"You know he had to use Kabuto as his vessel this past time, don't you?"

Sasuke's eyes widened considerably. He couldn't even open his mouth to reply, he was too shocked. Why would he use Kabuto? That was his best medical ninja, the one that could treat him the best ways possible.

"He didn't have any other choice. All his followers had some major problems, and they couldn't be completely trusted. Kabuto was the only one there for him." All of them were now smiling; it looked creepy the way there were smiling, too. "And he is still looking for you. But that wasn't part of our mission, this is just a great bonus running into you like this. You see, he needs another great medical ninja..."

Naruto stepped towards the group, baring his teeth. "You're going to try and take Tsunade, aren't you?" he yelled.

"No, not at all. She is too hard to deal with, she herself could take all of us out in the blink of an eye. Unless we were in our curse seal forms, of course. We are looking for someone that has most of her medical abilities...and judging by that flash of pink we saw racing into the forest, I'd guess she is here with you two."

There was a moment where a sudden spark of fear and anger ignited within the two men. Sakura had been their friend for years, she was a kind and caring person, a very special friend. The thought of someone using her like that enraged the two, especially Sasuke because he had been with that disgusting man before.

"You will never, _ever_, take Sakura away," Naruto snarled, eyes flashing a deep reddish-purple.

"Agreed," Sasuke spat as he lashed out with a kunai at the small woman. It knicked her right cheek as she swayed to the side to dodge it, just a second too late.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The two women were huddled in the very back corner of the cave in the forest. Hinata was shivering, not only from the damp and chilly atmosphere of the enclosed space, but also because she knew that Sound ninja were very strong and unpredictable and Naruto was out there...but she had faith in Naruto. He never let her down, the blond always did the best he could.

Fists clenched at her sides, the pink-haired kunoichi stood and turned to face her friend. "I'm going back out there," she announced. There was no arguing that would change her mind, but Hinata attempted it.

"Sakura, they want us to stay here..."

"I don't care." Spinning, she started running out of the cave, calling back. "You stay here, Hinata! Stay here and stay safe."

Swatting foliage away as she ran, Sakura burst through the trees and leaves to reveal Sasuke and Naruto fighting five of the Sound ninja, one already down for the count, apparently being mentally tortured by genjutsu.

When Sasuke's eyes flickered towards the newly present figure they widened slightly and he hesitated in his movements, breathing, "Sakura..." A kunai ripped through his shirt and created a gash on his arm while another shinobi kicked him in the stomach a second later, sending him stumbling backwards before he dropped onto his knees, clutching his stomach.

After flexing her hand, she focused chakra and slammed her fist into the somewhat packed sand beneath her. Even though it was on sandy ground, it created a large crater nonetheless. The two ninja that had attacked Sasuke fell into the crater and Sakura dove in, punching one in the jaw. A satisfying crack greeted her ears and she spun, swiping her foot under the feet of the other and knocking the person off balance.

"Sakura!" Sasuke roared, on his feet again and staring down at her intensely. "Get out of here!"

She was about to reply, but a fist came flying at her and she barely ducked in time for it to miss her face. Her hand hit the ninja in the stomach and it caused him to drop, and as he did, she slammed her fist into the back of the ninja's head, knocking him out. As she was turned away from the unresponsive body, the other ninja slashed at her, getting just below her collarbone.

Reaching up, she covered the wound as best as she could, but crimson liquid seeped through her fingers. "There's the pretty little ninja we've been looking for," the enemy male said in a manner that was so sweet it made her sick.

One syllable left Sasuke's mouth before he was attacked by the ninja he had trapped in a genjutsu that had obviously got out of it. That left Sakura alone with the male ninja, an evil smile playing across his face as she peered at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You should feel honored..." he started, taking a step towards her. "Master Orochimaru wants you to be his new assistant, his new medical ninja."

Shock registered in her. Orochimaru wanted her to be his new assistant?

The person in front of her was suddenly on the ground as Hinata leapt into the crater, jabbing him with chakra emitting hands. Her startled state fading slightly, Sakura grinned at her friend.

"I am not going to stay behind and let my friends fight alone," Hinata stated boldly, casting a glance at Sakura.

The pink-haired kunoichi nodded and said quickly, "Go help Naruto, he's dealing with two of them." In the blink of an eye, Hinata was out of the crater and assisting her boyfriend.

Bleeding from the mouth, the man Hinata had just attacked stood up. His breathing was ragged, but his apparent lack of strength didn't stop him from going at Sakura.

"I can't kill you..." he mumbled, snorting. "That's the only restriction I have. All I have to do is get you onto that ship and then you're Master Orochimaru's."

Face red, Sakura grabbed his wrist and swung him over herself and into the sand. Seconds later, her fist came down on his face, breaking a cheekbone. He held up his hand and pressed a button, releasing sound waves that disrrupted her ears, everything becoming blurry. She didn't know which way was up or down or where left or right was.

A pain shot through her stomach and she supposed he had kicked her away and she was now on the ground.

"I don't think so," she heard someone say icily. Although her vision was blurry, she could tell it was Sasuke's voice and she could she his outline standing near her. His body was half covered in the curse mark but he was trying to fight it off as he battled with the Sound ninja.

Seconds later warm liquid sprayed on her legs. "Sakura..." That was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

* * *

Sorry it was so short! Please review and tell me what you thought about it! Thanks!


	14. Chapter 14

Wow. =D I'm updating already! Yes, I had today off of school and I spent most of my day browsing the internet and trying to type up this chapter! I know it's probably short...but I did update sooner than you expected, right? So be happy! =D Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I really love hearing what you have to say about my story.

* * *

-Chapter Fourteen-

When the pink-haired kunoichi started to stir Naruto and Hinata hurried to her side. Placing a hand behind her back, Hinata helped her friend sit up. After blinking a couple of times her vision returned to normal. Two people were smiling at her, happy that she was with them again. But where was the other person? She glanced around. The dead bodies of their enemies were all placed in the crater she had created; their eyes had been closed by her friends. There was no sign of the man she was looking for.

"Where's Sasuke?" Sakura demanded to know, unsteadily standing up.

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. "He went off into the forest. He's trying to get a hold of himself...because of the curse mark."

Not bothering to even clean herself up from the battle, Sakura sprinted off into the forest in search for the Sharingan user. Dried blood flaked off of her legs as she ran. She hardly noticed the dry and crusted feeling of the substance.

Near the entrance to the cave she laid eyes on Sasuke. The mark still stretched across half of his body, decorating it in flame-like designs. His red eyes snapped over to peer at the approaching woman. His whole body visibly tensed and he shot a glare at her. "Don't get near me," he snapped. "In this state...I can't control myself sometimes..."

Instead of listening to the man, Sakura continued to walk towards him. Once she was standing beside him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him to her in a hug.

"I'm not afraid of you. I don't care if you can't control yourself at times."

Sasuke had two opposing urges at that moment: to relax in her embrace or to pull away. After a second he started to relax and he could feel the curse mark receding. He wasn't sure why that happened when Sakura was hugging him, maybe it was because she had a calming affect on him. Or maybe that wasn't the case at all, he didn't know.

When Sakura pulled away she offered him a smile before kissing him lightly on the cheek. A blush dusted her face; she obviously had just done that on impulse.

Seeing as he didn't react in a negative way, she started to lean towards him again. She always had to be cautious around Sasuke, it was hard to tell what he was thinking or feeling. Even though she knew he liked her as more than a friend, it didn't guarentee that she would recieve any physical affection such as a kiss. Growing more hesitant, the woman paused, their lips only an inch away. He was the one that closed the gap, his lips molding perfectly with her's.

He could feel her lips turn upwards slightly in a smile against his. That made him smirk as he continued to kiss her. It was odd that he was letting his guard down just like that, but he was getting lost in the moment. It was like she was transferring her emotions of contentment into him, something he didn't feel often. He liked it, though.

He didn't even know he had sunk his hands into her pink locks. When Sakura paused in kissing him back for a second because of the shock of it all, that's when he realized what he had done. Pulling away a bit, their eyes fluttered open. His hands recoiled and he glanced off to the side. Sakura, on the other hand, continued staring at him with soft eyes.

"Come on, Sasuke. Let's go back to the beach."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Hmm...where is the food on this ship?" Naruto mumbled, rummaging through some cabinets that were in the storage area of the ship the Sound ninja had been traveling on. The last cabinet he opened contained some food. All at once, his mouth fell open and his eyes widened. "_Ramen! Ramen ramen ramen ramen ramen ramen!_" He greedily snatched all the ramen in the cabinet, leaving everything else inside. "It's not like the best stuff that's made at Ichiraku, but it's still _ramen._"

The hyper ninja turned to look at his girlfriend who was collecting some of the pots and cooking utensils from inside some cabinets across the room. She glanced over, feeling his stare. He excitedly wiggled the ramen packages in the air before running over to her and crashing his lips against her's in his streak of enthusiam.

She turned red and smiled softly at the man as he raced up to the deck and screamed at his two friends that had just emerged from the forest. "I found ramen!" He could see Sasuke roll his eyes, but he recieved a thumbs up sign from Sakura.

After calling back to Hinata that he was getting off the ship, he raced to the beach and set his precious ramen down under a tree. He then plopped down, guarding the sacred food. Sasuke rolled his eyes again and Sakura sighed, shaking her head.

It wasn't too much longer before the Hyuga woman joined the group. Her arms were full of cooking utensils. Sakura hurried over to her and took some of the items before they tumbled out of her arms. Seeing that his ramen could now be cooked, Naruto sprang to his feet and rushed over to his girlfriend, holding some packs of ramen.

The delicious food was cooking not too long afterwards. The four were sitting around the fire, awaiting the food to be done. Sasuke, who didn't care much for ramen, was even looking forward to having it for dinner. The only thing they had eaten for days was fish and fruit, with the exception of the boar they had cooked earlier.

The blond was bouncing up and down, visibly drooling out of one side of his mouth. Whenever Hinata glanced over at him she would giggle because of it.

"So, about the ship," Sakura started, jabbing a finger in the direction of the wooden boat, "are we going to use it to get back home?"

Sasuke stole a glance at her. "We could, except we don't know which direction Konoha is in."

"Plus there have to be people searching for us. It might be more useful to use it for firewood since we are getting low on that. Storms around here seem to be frequent, so if we tried to go back home there would be a good chance that we would just get trapped in another storm and end up right back where we started." Hinata had a good point. Her words left everyone in silence, apparently having no arguments with that idea.

The bouncing ceased and Naruto looked around confusedly. "So...we're staying here?"

The pink-haired kunoichi shrugged. "I guess so."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sasuke and Sakura had woken up bright and early the next day. Around midday the two admired their work on the shelter. They had actually just finished it, having worked hard and efficiently for most of the day. As the female had built the walls and roof of the shelter, Sasuke had crafted the furniture. It wasn't the most comfortable or sturdy furniture, but it would have to do.

"It looks amazing," Sakura breathed, grinning up at Sasuke as the two looked at each other. Walking away, she went over to where their hunting and cooking items were lying on the sand. "Let's move all this stuff into the infamous storage closet."

The memory of what had happened in that closet brought a blush to Sakura's cheeks, and the back of Sasuke's neck reddened slightly at the thought. He shook his head and helped her carry some of the objects into the storage closet. The wall of the room had been patched well by the woman, there was no evidence that anything had happened to the wall.

Once all the stuff was set down, the two turned to face each other. The smile that Sakura had on her face soon seemed to diminish. He questioned her by merely raising an eyebrow.

"How long do you think it will take for someone to find us?"

He heaved a sigh. "There's no telling how long."

"I keep thinking that...maybe we should take the ship and travel around. We could at least find land that had people on it and then they could tell us how to get home."

Sasuke shook his head, reaching out and resting his large hands on her shoulders. "It's best if we just stay here. We're better off here now that we have plenty of food and shelter."

Lips curling up at the corners, Sakura stared up at him. His gaze was knowing and certain. She silently agreed with him as his hands slid off of her shoulders to rest at his sides once again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Naruto stared blankly at their new shelter. Hinata seemed delighted to have a place to stay, and Sasuke and Sakura were content with the what they had built. The blond was the only one that had a slight problem.

"There's only two bedrooms with one bed in each."

His female friend eyed him warily. "Yeah, so? I figured Hinata and I could share one and you and Sasuke could share one."

The idea was unappealing to both of the men, but Sasuke was not going to complain. You had to do what you had to do. They were best friends, but it was still awkward. Mentally, Sasuke decided that he would probably just sleep on the sand in their room rather than the bed. Or maybe he could kick Naruto off of the bed...

"That's repulsive. Hinata is sharing a room with me."

The dark-haired female started to blush, blinking repeatedly at her boyfriend in shock. When Naruto held out his hand towards her, she took it and they walked into one of the room.

The two shinobi they had left behind stood there, staring. Eventually, Sakura sighed and turned to her companion. "Well, I guess we're roommates now..." She turned and went to their new room, glancing over her shoulder at Sasuke. The man sighed then followed her. Once he was in the room he started to shut the door that was made of leaves and framed with bamboo. It was only then that he heard high-pitched shrieks. He paused. Sasuke then peeked out the door to see Saru running towards it.

"What now you dumb monkey?" he snapped, opening the door a bit more.

The primate stopped in front of the door, staring at Sasuke. He pointed at Sasuke then inside the room at Sakura, who was sitting on the edge of the bed. The animal then grinned widely and nodded, letting out what sounded like an insane cackle.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits. "_Go away._" After saying that, he shut the door. Saru, continuing to grin, scampered away.

* * *

Yes, monkeys can be perverts. =P Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review! Thanks!


	15. Chapter 15

I know, I know...I said I probably wouldn't take that long in updating, but I did. I'm sorry. I'm just a busy person. I am updating, though! So be happy! =D Enjoy!

* * *

-Chapter Fifteen-

The blond man and his girlfriend glanced around the room. A soft smile came to Hinata's face, and she rested a hand lightly on Naruto's arm. "This is quite nice, don't you agree?"

He nodded, then sat down on the edge of the bed. It wasn't the most comfy place to sleep, but it would have to do. He couldn't be picky about those kinds of things while shipwrecked. Everything was difficult when living on an island. Food was not easy to get, shelter was hard to build...just everything was a challenge, even for ninja. They were trained to fight, not to live out in the wilderness.

Naruto yawned and swung his feet up onto the bed, laying down. "I'm tired."

The black-haired woman nodded, blushing at the thought of sharing a bed with Naruto. She had finally gotten used to the idea that they were a couple, but now she had to share a bed with him. It was quite overwhelming. The thought made her heart flutter.

"So am I. I'm glad w-we are going to be sleeping under a shelter tonight." Her boyfriend hummed in agreement and motioned for her to come over. Hinata's blush deepened as she stepped closer to the bed. Finally, she lowered herself onto it and pulled her legs up. Naruto draped an arm around her shoulders and sighed contentedly.

The two remained silent for a while, both pairs of eyes closed. Hinata was almost asleep when Naruto said, "Do you think something is going on between Sasuke and Sakura? I know they like each other and everything, but I don't know if Sakura knows he likes her back yet. Do you think anything has happened between them?"

The female sighed, giggling lightly. "We'll find out, Naruto. Just give them time."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was apparent that the two liked each other, but they weren't quite ready for such proximity. Sasuke was laying on the very edge of the bed, and Sakura was doing the same on her side of the piece of furniture.

The man was still awake, staring into the darkness of the room. The kunoichi, on the other hand, was fast asleep, her breathing deep and even.

The new shelter was nice; they no longer had to worry about animals bothering them in the middle of the night, or be concerned about a storm rolling in as they were sleeping. It was nice to know they had a roof over their heads, even if it was made of giant leaves.

It wasn't long before Sasuke started to drift off to sleep. He was right on the edge of sleeping when he heard Sakura whimper. Confused, he sat up, activating his bloodline trait and gazing over at the woman. Her body was quivering slightly; the noises she made sounded like she was crying in her sleep. When she whimpered again, Sasuke reached toward her hesitantly.

Eventually, his hand rested on her arm. Now he could feel her quivering along we seeing it. She fidgetted and rolled over to face him, her eyes still closed. He could now see the wet streaks across her cheeks.

He thought of how strange it was that she was the one having the bad dream this time. Usually he was the one that needed comforted. That thought irritated him a bit, seeing as he didn't like the idea of needing comforted.

The man scooted a bit closer, his hand finding one of her's. His other hand starting stroking her hair. The actions were odd; they were foreign to him. He started to think he was showing too much affection; affection was an emotion, and emotions were weaknesses. But as the pink-haired woman started to relax and calm down, he realized it was alright to show affection sometimes. It not only made other people feel better, but it also made him feel somewhat content.

When the crying and whimpering ceased, Sasuke went back to his original spot on the bed. Sakura was fine now, and he didn't need to help any more than that.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sakura woke the next morning with a soft sigh. She was surprised at how warm she was considering the chilly air could still get into the shelter and that they had no blankets or anything to cover up with. That's when she realized that two arms were wrapped around her in a tight grip.

Immediately, a blush rose to her cheeks. This definitely wasn't the position she had falled asleep in.

Not only were Sasuke's arms wrapped around her, but his head was very close to her own. His face was buried in her hair, and she could feel his hot breath hitting her scalp. All she could do was stare at his chest that she was facing, wondering what would happen when he woke up and realized what had happened during their sleeping hours.

She sensed the door to their room opening, and she knew two people were probably staring in at them in complete and utter shock.

"What the-" Naruto started to screech, pointing an index finger at the two on the bed. Hinata could be heard whispering for him to be quiet so he wouldn't wake them.

Sakura had closed her eyes, hoping they would think she was still asleep. Apparently it worked.

Hinata convinced Naruto to just close the door and leave them alone, so once the door was closed, Sakura let out a quiet sigh.

There was only about a minute of time before Sasuke started to stir. Sakura's breath hitched in her throat, and the young man inhaled deeply. It was only moments later that his eyes snapped open.

"Sakura?" he said, puzzled.

She shifted her head to peer up at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're the one that made it this way, so don't ask me."

His arms retracted, and he sat up, blinking at her as if he was still slightly confused. She couldn't help but giggle at the expression. He shook his head, eyebrows furrowing. He was just going to pretend like nothing happened; he hadn't meant to hold her through the night, anyways. It was an accident.

Once he went to the door and opened it, Naruto rushed to him and started flinging all sorts of questions at him. There were so many that he couldn't understand what the man was even saying.

"Naruto," he growled, giving the blond man a shove away from him. "Calm down. What's wrong with you?"

Hinata was gazing over at the two with a blush dusting her cheeks. A hand went up to cover her mouth as a small smile graced her lips.

"_You and Sakura laying on the bed! What was up with you holding her? Are you two going out? Did you tell her you liked her? Did she tell you she liked you still? Did you guys kiss? Did you guys have s-_"

"_Naruto!_" Sakura was out the door in a flash, and was now holding the blond off the ground by the cuff of his outfit. Angered by the man's words, she drug him out of the shelter and toward the forest. Hinata and Sasuke could hear him yelping and whimpering as Sakura yelled at him for asking such dumb questions. Only the last question he was about to ask had irritated her.

Of course they hadn't, but even if they had, it was none of Naruto's business. And besides, he knew she wasn't ready for that, yet he asked anyways.

A couple minutes went by and all the noises had stopped. Sakura reappeared in the shelter without Naruto, and her arms were crossed. Hinata let out a squeak in concern and rushed out to find her boyfriend and to make sure he was okay and didn't have too much damage done.

"Idiot," Sasuke and Sakura said at the same time. They hadn't meant to simulaneously say it, so when they did, Sakura looked at Sasuke and laughed. Sasuke smirked, rolling his eyes.

Hinata brought Naruto back to the shelter a couple minutes later, as Sasuke and Sakura remained standing and waiting for them to return. She was supporting him as he stumbled along, still light-headed from his beating.

He rubbed his swollen cheek, and stuttered, "S-Sakura, you're so mean...I just wanted to know."

"Well, what do you think the answer is, Naruto?"

He glanced back and forth between the two. "Yes?" Sakura started toward the man, fists clenched. If it wasn't for Sasuke, Naruto could have gotten another beating, but he grabbed one of Sakura's wrists and stopped her from advancing toward the man. Naruto suddenly squealed, "I was answering to the question I asked about you two kissing."

"Oh," Sakura mumbled, expression softening. Her emerald orbs drifted back to look at Sasuke. She wasn't sure if he minded about the two shinobi finding out or not. His face remained blank, and after a second, he gave a firm nod to his best friend. Naruto opened his mouth, most likely to start asking questions again, but Sakura cut him off. "No, we're not going out. Yes, we like each other. And yes, your last question is _absurd_ because you know me better than that."

The man bowed his head slightly, be grinned sheepishly at the same time. "Yeah, sorry...I just got a bit carried away."

Hinata was glancing between the raven-haired shinobi and her best friend. "Wh-when did you two..."

Sakura laughed, scratching the back of her head. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Hinata. I'll fill you in a little later." She practically whispered her sentences, but Sasuke didn't seem to mind that she was going to tell the woman. Hinata already knew that Sasuke liked Sakura, and she had even given him a talking to about how he should show his feelings for the pink-haired woman.

"What about me?" Naruto whined, gazing up at his two friends. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but decided that he would tell Naruto later. They were best friends, after all. The blond caught the action, and knew what Sasuke was thinking. His grin widened, and he let out a few low laughs.

* * *

Yeah, sorry...there wasn't much action in this chapter...but Naruto and Hinata finally found out about SASUSAKU. XD Hope you liked it. Please make me happy and review.


	16. Chapter 16

**Y**ou're probably wondering where the hell I have been. Well, let me tell you...I've been slacking off. Majorly. I am very sorry, and I know you don't want to hear excuses, although I _do_ have some pretty good ones. (They sound good to _me,_ at least.) Don't hate me too much, PLEASE, I am begging you. I hope another chapter of this story makes you not hate me. :3

Okay all you writers and SasuSaku lovers. Have you ever heard of Naruto Forums? It's an amazing Naruto fansite where you can chat with other Naruto fans like yourself. There are even fanclubs to support characters and couples. I'm on there and there are other amazing writers on there. At the SasuSaku fanclub, there is an essay contest related to SasuSaku going on. It would be a great opportunity to use your writing skills to express your love for SasuSaku. There haven't been a lot of essays entered, and the fanclub really wants a lot more to be submitted. If you would like more information and would like to check it out, just go to my profile and click the link to the SasuSaku fanclub. If you do register on that website, it would be amazing if you contacted me and became my friend on there.

Also, I am actually started to somewhat USE my DeviantArt account. I might even start putting up literature on there. In my profile, you can find the link to my DeviantArt account. Maybe I'll even write a bit of SasuSaku stuff and put up on there. It's a possibility.

Okay, enough with all that. Before reading the next chapter, if you don't remember all that much of what happened previously, then you will be glad to know that I am going to give you a recap. (Which I majorly SUCK at, just so you know.) After reading the recap, please enjoy the chapter and DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW. I love getting feedback and hearing what you all think. It makes me happy and it motivates me to write more. Enjoy.

**Recap:** The shelter was successfully built and ready to stay in. Naruto and Hinata shared a room and Sasuke and Sakura shared a room. During the middle of the night, Sasuke had cuddled up to Sakura and Naruto and Hinata found them like that in the morning. They are questioning the relationship status of the two, and Naruto wonders exactly how far things have gone with the two of them. He gets a good beating from Sakura for even thinking the two might have had sex, and Sasuke and Sakura both say they will explain everything.

* * *

-Chapter Sixteen-

When Hinata and Sakura set off to hang out in the forest, the dark-haired woman didn't waste any time in asking questions. "So...what happened between you and Sasuke so far?" Eagerness was leaking out of her, and she rarely showed such excitement in something, for she was still somewhat shy.

The kunoichi traveling beside her swayed a bit, obviously joyous about Sasuke feeling the same way about her as she for him. It wasn't until they were deeper into the mass of trees and greenery that Sakura finally bubbled over with happiness and started to tell her friend the story. "Well, it was right before the Sound got here...you and Naruto fell asleep after eating all that meat from the boar. Sasuke and I decided to hang out for a bit, and we ate some tomatoes...and he just turned and kissed me. I honestly don't think he even meant to, he was really confused and embarassed, which is surprising for him. Anyways, after that, he was a bit more open to me, and we've even kissed a few more times. Even if we aren't technically going out, I guess you could still officially say I'm taken."

The pink-haired woman twirled, a bright smile adorning her face. Her companion was grinning, happy for her friend. Now they both had the person they wanted. All was good in life...at that moment, anyways. Being stranded on the island would surely bring more hardships, and Sakura seemed like she was ready to snap and go insane sometimes because of being there so long with some actual civilization. It was only a matter of time before the woman actually _did_ snap.

As one woman remained motionless and the other made her circular spins, Saru hauled himself over to the two and started jumping up and down. Both women directed their attention to the monkey, smiling fondly.

"Hey, Saru," Sakura greeted, tilting her head to the side. The darker-haired female only giggled and continued to smile.

The primate kept jumping up and down, and soon enough, he pointed in a certain direction and let out a noise. It was apparent that he wanted the two to follow him, so both shrugged and let him lead the way. At the end of their journey, Saru had led them to a specific tree containing another full-grown moneky and a baby monkey.

Sakura immediately started to coo. "Aww, Saru, is that your baby? It's so adorable!" With wide pearl-colored eyes, the other woman stared up into the tree, obviously in adoration of the tiny monkey. It definitely was precious. "Saru, I want to hold the baby. Please?" The hyper woman reached her arms out toward the baby, and Saru jumped up and down a few times, making some noises and pointing at Sakura.

Only minutes later, the baby monkey was on the ground, peering up shyly at Sakura. After a second of Sakura holding her arms out, the baby scampered over to her and let her pick it up.

"Isn't it cute?" Sakura crowed, twirling around so that Hinata could see the primate.

"It definitely is. I didn't know Saru was a daddy." Being women, they giggled and cooed over the young primate. Finally, Hinata suggested, "Let's go show it to Naruto and Sasuke."

The pink-haired kunoichi turned to Saru. If she tried to take his offspring away from his home, would he think she was abducting him? Saru was pretty smart for a primate, honestly. He would probably understand. Hell, Sakura was even going to ask for permission because she was sure the monkey would understand what she was saying.

After taking in a deep breath, Sakura said, "Can I show your baby to Sasuke and Naruto?"

The father scampered toward the beach, waving for them to follow. It didn't take long for the group to reach the sand and water, finding the men still at the shelter discussing something. What it was, they didn't know, and they wouldn't get to since both the males fell into silence upon their arrival.

With a tilt of her head, Sakura bounced the baby a bit. "This is Saru's baby. Isn't the baby so cute?" Hinata was giggling again.

One of Sasuke's eyes twitched, although it wasn't visible to anyone. "The dumb monkey has a family?" he muttered, mostly to himself. All of his companions caught his words, though. Saru threw a fit and screeched at the Uchiha madly, baring semi-pointy teeth.

Soft-set eyes rested on Sasuke, and that expression was what really attracted his attention to Sakura. The others were giving him a disapproving look, but the woman he had some feelings for was only smiling weakly at him, seeming to have a different view on the words than all the others. "Everyone deserves a family, Sasuke," she said softly. She was hoping her response didn't irk the angry side of him. The last thing she wanted was for her love to be in a bad mood because thoughts of his own deceased family arose, but his expression remained blank. After a moment, his eyes seemed to glaze over a bit.

Only the baby monkey could tell that Sakura sighed deeply, a somewhat sympathetic look leaking into her emerald orbs. Noticing this, the baby wrapped it's arms around Sakura and hugged her tightly. Saru, who had directed his attention back to the holder of his baby, started to grin at them.

"Aww, you're so sweet," the woman whispered, hugging the monkey against her. Even if she was attempting to be comforted, it wasn't exactly working. She was too worried about Sasuke, and sorry she mentioned family.

The man with a dazed expression had thought of his family for a moment. Everyone might _deserve_ a family, but not everyone _had_ a family. He surely didn't have one. But if the man just took a look around him, he would find people that cared about him and loved him for who he was--what exactly _was_ the definition of family?

When his thoughts eventually faded away and he focused back on reality, he found Sakura giggling and cooing, smiling brightly at the tiny life held in her arms. Even her eyes were smiling, anyone could see that. She was so good with babies...well, it wasn't a human baby, but it was probably the closest type of baby to it. Children had always seemed to light up her world. That's when Sasuke realized he _could_ have a family, in the future, of course. That thought sent him way out of his comfort zone.

_Where the hell did that thought come from_, he snapped at himself. It wasn't like him to think of such things. Plus, he and Sakura weren't even going out yet. He had always wanted to restore his clan, but he knew it wasn't right to think about it that early in the somewhat romantic relationship he had with the woman. But when Sakura glanced at the man for a brief moment, he wondered if she had been thinking about the same thing.

"Umm...Sasuke?" Naruto's voice is what brought Sasuke back to being attentive of his surroundings and not focusing on one object. The blond was raising an eyebrow, eyes widened a bit. "For a second there it almost looked like you wanted to eat Sakura. It was scary."

"Hmph." The stoic man crossed his arms, putting on an expression void of emotion.

His friend was still freaked out a bit. "My theory of us all eating each other isn't going to come true, is it?"

Quirking a pink eyebrow, Sakura stared at her light-haired friend. He always had such irrational fears, but she supposed it actually _could_ happen if they all got hungry enough and went without food for a week or more.

Licking her lips, she announced, "Meat sounds _so_ good right now." She tried her hardest to create an animalistic gleam in her eyes as she faced Naruto. In reaction, the man seemed horrified. Leaping up from his sitting position, he ran into the shelter and to his bedroom, whining about how he was too young to die from being eaten.

Both Hinata and Sasuke were staring at the woman with raised eyebrows. Even Saru seemed to be a bit shocked by the whole scene.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Tsunade had only sent two ANBU with Kakashi in search of his team and the Hyuga heiress. It had been quite some time that they had been traveling by boat. Occassionally the three would stop at an inhabited island or a coastal village and ask if the people had seen any ninja from Konoha. So far, they had no luck.

"Any ideas?" Kakashi asked as one of the ANBU companions scanned a map.

Silence lulled between them for a moment. "They could be on one of these islands. That storm was blowing southeast, so it is very possible that they ended up on one of these islands." A tanned finger traced a chain of islands nearly in the middle of the large body of water.

The silver-haired man suddenly got the feeling that they had to be there. They just _had_ to be. They had checked most everywhere else, and surely shinobi of their skill wouldn't have died from that storm or the dismembered ship. There was just no way. The man wouldn't even think of that as an option.

After a second, Kakashi asked, "How long until we get to the start of the chain?"

"About two days," came the quick reply. "By the end of the fourth day we should get to the end of the chain if we're still looking for them."

With a heavy sigh, the masked man turned away. Reaching up, he massaged his temples a bit. How could this have even happened to his team? Well, the fact was that it had happened and that he couldn't go back and change it. He could only hope that they remembered their first lesson of being a shinobi. Teamwork. If they didn't, all hell was sure to break loose.

To relax himself and unwind, the man slipped a manga book out of his back pocket and opened it up. Unlike usual, he couldn't hardly concentrate.

* * *

**Y**es, I know the chapter is short. There will probably be only a few more chapters before this story is finished. I know it's supposed to almost be based on the Sims Castaway game, but sadly, I haven't had the chance to play it all that much. I've pretty much forgotten what all is in that game except for what I've already put into the story. But I guess the whole idea of them being shipwrecked in the first place is good enough...isn't it?

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I know it's a bit slow-paced. Hopefully it will pick back up soon. I need to get my mind in gear. Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks!


	17. Chapter 17

I'm updating fast, aren't I? You all better be happy because I don't know if I can do it again. Thank you all for the reviews, and I'm so happy I have nearly 200 reviews on this story! Keep them coming, and enjoy the next chapter.

* * *

-Chapter Seventeen-

The pattering of rain soothed the dark-haired female as she sat inside the shelter. Her eyelids were heavy, the sound putting her to sleep. It was so peaceful, and neither of her loud friends were around to break the silence.

Naruto and Sakura had taken it upon themselves to go explore the island. Their personalities were quite similar in a few ways, and one was being adventurous and another being curious. Both Hinata and Sasuke were invited, but both had declined the offer.

The female that was left behind was leaning against a wall near the front of the shelter while Sasuke was in his room, probably trying to get some sleep. There really wasn't much to do when stranded on an island. There were people to talk to and places to discover, but after some time it just got a bit old and irritating. It was practically the same thing, day after day. Wake up, talk, eat, work, talk, eat, sleep. That was a basic outline of a routine for the group, but there were a few other activites in between, of course. The four just wanted to go home. And what about their mission? It wasn't their concern anymore. Other ninja were probably sent to take care of it.

A soft _whump_ brought Hinata out of her half-sleep state. It had been a door closing, and soon enough, the Uchiha strode over to her.

"Glad you took my advice," she mumbled, giving him a weak smile. "Sakura is really happy."

Crossing his arms, Sasuke heaved a sigh. "Yeah." What else was he supposed to say? Was he supposed to beam brightly and tell the woman that he was happy too? No. That wasn't like Sasuke. He truly was content with the fact that Sakura was happy, though. After all those times he pushed her away and he had to see her cry, it was a nice change to see her smiling all the time and unhesitantly showing affection.

Hinata's smile widened as she stared at her anti-social companion. It was obvious from his response that there was more to be said, but about his own emotions, yet he wasn't going to show it. "You're happy, too. I can tell."

The woman was shot an icy glare. He didn't like it when other people stated his own feelings. Without a response to the woman, he went back into the room he had come out of, leaving her sitting there grinning.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Both ninja were sopping wet, their clothes and hair matted to them. The kunoichi sprang into a tree and wiped as much rain as possible off of her face to keep it from leaking into her eyes.

"Good thing this is a warm rain. Otherwise, we'd probably be sick by now."

Nodding, her teammate followed her actions. They sat down on the branch side-by-side and let their legs and feet dangle over. "We don't even have more clothes to put on. We have to wear these until they dry. That will be annoying." It was just like Naruto to whine about something, and hearing him do so, the pink-haired woman smiled in his direction. Electric blue snapped over to look at his friend. "Stop looking at me, Sakura. I keep thinking you're going to eat me..."

Rolling her eyes, the woman shot, "Naruto, you're such an idiot!" With that, she gave him a firm shove, and he toppled onto his side on the branch. "Why the hell would I eat you?" Now, she was laughing. Her actions confused Naruto because he had thought she was frustrated, but then she starting laughing...what was up with that?

"Eh, Sakura...people stranded on islands go insane."

After the commotion died off, the two sat there together, staring off at their surroundings. So far, they hadn't found anything interesting. There was practically nothing to feed their hunger for adventure that day...

Squinting, Sakura spotted the cave she and Hinata had been in the other day when the Sound had attacked. "Hey, how about we check out that cave over there?" she suggested. "It sounds like more fun than sitting in this tree."

Without even replying, the blond hopped down from his seat and sprinted toward the opening. After a second of watching him, Sakura got down and went after him.

The cave was dark, and the light streaming in was dim because the sun was covered by clouds. Dripping could be heard echoing, and the atmosphere seemed damper than outside. It would be impossible to see anything so they could venture further into the cave.

"Naruto?" Sakura said, wondering where he had gone off to. The hyperactive ninja wasn't anywhere in sight when she had set foot in the dark opening. Apparently he had went further into the cave without her. "Naruto, where are you? How can you see where you're going?"

A moment later, she heard someone slip and then a _thud_. The man she had been searching for could be heard groaning from his fall.

"The ground is really hard..."

Rubbing her forehead, Sakura sighed. How in the world was he such a great ninja when he was so dumb? It was beyond her knowledge, and she was really smart. That really said something.

With a sudden thought, the woman focused green chakra to her hands. She knew it would be wise to save her chakra for medical purposes or fighting, but she needed to find Naruto. The ghastly glow of her chakra wasn't very bright, but it did help in the slightest. Eventually, she found her teammate, sitting on the cold ground and rubbing the back of his head, wincing. Sighing again, the woman lowered her glowing hand to his head and healed the bloody wound he had received.

A jerk of her head silently indicated that she wanted her teammate to follow her further into the cave. She led the way, using her own chakra as a source of light. There were a few times when she stumbled or bumped into something because the glow was so faint, but she spotted a tunnel at some point.

"What's that for?" Naruto asked, naturally curious. Without waiting for an answer, he started walking through the tunnel. "Come on, Sakura. We can feel along the walls for now; save your chakra for later."

The side of her face twitched. Follow Naruto into a dark tunnel? This would surely be the end of her. Instead of staying behind, though, she listened to him and trotted into the tunnel, feeling her way along. It was about a minute before she smacked into the back of Naruto, causing both of them to stumble and regain their balance. The tunnel was at an end, so Sakura's hand started to glow dimly once again.

Walking the outline of the area, they discovered that they were in a square room, a few skeletons scattered about. They would have freaked Sakura out, but she had been on alert of such things after being stuck in the sacrifice chamber with Hinata and Sasuke. Naruto merely avoided the bones, keeping quiet for once.

Sakura's stomach started to knot up, and she knew something wasn't right. She just couldn't place her finger on what it was. Naruto obviously started to feel something was wrong too because he suddenly started, "Sakura-"

A grating noise cut him off, and dust flew into the air, causing the two to cough.

"What the hell-"

Eyes widening in fright, Sakura yelled, "Naruto, the walls are closing in on us!" She had squinted, just barely able to see what was happening. "We need to get out of here!"

Doubling back, the two sped toward the entrance to the room, but the walls were closing in fast. Sakura, being behind Naruto, stopped and used her inhuman strength to push on the walls, keeping them parted enough for her teammate to get into the tunnel and out of dangers way. How would Sakura get out, though? Neither could see anymore, and when Naruto felt the tunnel's walls, he didn't sense that the kunoichi was directly behind him anymore.

"Sakura?" he bellowed, panic leaking out in his voice.

She grunted, her arms wobbling a bit. The force of the walls was great, and she had used up some of her chakra from using it as a source of light. She knew she couldn't keep pushing much longer.

"N-Naruto..." she gasped. "I'm holding the walls apart. Are you to the tunnel yet?"

A shiver shot up his spine when he realized what was happening. Sakura was risking her own life to save him. He needed to do something—anything—and fast.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Hinata bit her bottom lip, stomach knotting up. There had been quite a few times when she had had that feeling, but she wasn't sure what it was. It was only a minute later that Sasuke came out of his and Sakura's room, looking slightly perturbed.

An inhale sounded from the woman. "Do you have a bad feeling too?" she asked meekly. After getting a stiff nod in response, her pearly orbs widened. "Naruto and Sakura...we should find them and check on them. What if...what if..."

"Come on."

Zipping through the trees, Sasuke and Hinata made their way along the island, searching for their friends. The strange feelings grew even more intense. Something was definitely wrong, they just hadn't figured out exactly _what_ was wrong yet.

* * *

Yes, I am making you wait until the next chapter to know what happens to Sakura. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Thank you all!


	18. Chapter 18

I'm finally updating. Sorry it took me so long. Again. I started school and it's just been hectic. I'm trying to do too many things at once and it's wearing me out. I have to start focusing on college applications and college essays so that I can get into a college next year. I'll try to work more on this story, though. I won't give up on it; I love it too much. I know this chapter is short, but at least I've got something now. Thanks for all the support throughout all this, I really appreciate it.

**Recap: **Sasuke and Hinata had a super short conversation. Naruto and Sakura went to explore and found a cave. They found a tunnel that led to a room with enclosing walls. The walls started to close on them, and Sakura used her strength to hold the walls apart while Naruto got back out of the room and into the tunnel. Sakura's strength was draining and the walls were closing in on her. Sasuke and Hinata got a bad feeling and went to find Naruto and Sakura...

* * *

-Chapter Eighteen-

Naruto froze up. What was he going to do? It was a life or death situation for Sakura. Various thoughts crashed into his mind, making him a bit dizzy. _What am I going to do? I can't let Sakura die, I just can't. She means so much to me; she means so much to Hinata...to _Sasuke...

He didn't have time to spare, and the urgency of the situation caused anxiety to course through him.

"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" The words left his mouth when he wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. An idea had apparently hit the man subconsciously, but it had pushed its way forward and made him act on it.

The clones rushed into the enclosing room, pushing on the walls. Sakura had the chance to let go, knowing the clones had control of the situation. With her chakra nearly depleted, she only managed to stumble to the entrance of the tunnel before she collapsed at Naruto's feet, panting. Usually she would have had much more chakra to use, but being stranded on an island with a poor diet and not getting great sleep...she didn't have as much chakra as usual to use.

The blond felt her fall, kneeling down and dragging her safely away from the room they had just exited. His clones poofed into nothingness and they both heard the walls slam together. The ground beneath them shook and the walls rattled.

Relief washed through both ninja when they knew the danger was past them and they would be fine.

"N-Naruto," Sakura stammered, clutching her good friend tightly after managing to stand on wobbly legs. "Thank you so much."

When her companion's arms slid around her in return, and she heard a bubbly laugh, a smile spread across her face. "You saved me first, Sakura! Thank _you_." Letting go of each other, they continued to smile, although neither could see the other one.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The tremoring of the ground was impossible not to notice. Sasuke and Hinata were both in the cave in a matter of seconds, their bloodline traits activated. Together, they found the tunnel and rushed through it.

"What's going on?" Sasuke demanded to know when his teammates came into view. As to why they were standing there and just staring and smiling at each other was beyond him. It was an odd sight to see. Although the two smiled at each other quite often because they were friends, it wasn't normal for then to keep staring at each other for so long. It gave him an uneasy feeling in his gut, possibly because his best friend used to like the woman he had feelings for.

He savored the spark of joy that lit up in Sakura's eyes when she saw him, as if it was confirming that she only had romantic feelings for him. Her eyes never glimmered like that for Naruto...or did they? He hadn't ever paid enough attention to know for sure.

Hinata, head bowed slightly, shuffled over to her boyfriend. "N-Naruto...you never answered his question." She felt so tiny, and so weak all of a sudden.

The look her best friend and her crush had been giving each other had given her a horrible feeling. Jealously was not an emotion she ever wanted to feel, but she couldn't help it. There was no way that her closest friend had any feelings for Naruto other than a friendly love or the type of love for a sibling. There couldn't be. It wasn't possible. Sakura had never thought of Naruto that way, and now that the pink-haired woman's feelings we reciprocated, there was absolutely no way Sakura would fall for someone other than Sasuke.

Taking a small step forward, the blond's head fell onto Hinata's shoulder and his arms slid around her waist. "Sakura and I were using her chakra to light up our way in the dark, but we couldn't see much. We found a room, but the walls started to close in on us. Sakura held them while I escaped, but she...well...almost didn't get out..."

After clearing her throat, his teammate finished, "But Naruto created clones that held the wall for me and I got away."

Blood red eyes softened, a very small glimmer of worry appearing in them. Of course, Sakura couldn't see him at all to realize that he was concerned.

"Sakura..." Most people wouldn't catch the emotion in his voice, but she did.

Eyebrows knitting together, the woman stepped toward the voice. Hesitantly, the reached out with a fragile hand. It grazed the front of Sasuke's shirt, and she took another step closer. Just as she did so, her knees gave out because she had lost so much chakra and she was so weak.

Catching her around the waist, Sasuke held her up, pressing her against him. It wasn't exactly a hug, it was more for supportive reasons, but Sakura considered it a hug, anyways.

Her arms were wrapped around him in return, also to hold herself up, but she had been wanting to hug him before the incident. "Sasuke..." she sighed, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes. She was so very tired...

"Come on, we should get back." He caught Hinata's gaze and motioned her over since she was the only other person that could see in the dark. The woman took hold of Sakura from behind and held her up as Sasuke turned around. He then mumbled, "Get on my back."

A weak smile surfaced to Sakura's face, and she used up all the strength she had to get onto her crush's back and latch onto him securely as he placed his hands under each of her thighs to keep her there.

As Sasuke led the group through the darkness, Hinata's hand swung out and caught Naruto's. She had to guide him through the darkness, of course.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Puzzlement and concern were enscribed on Naruto's face as he lowered himself down onto the less than soft bed. His girlfriend was sitting on her side of the bed, facing the opposite direction with her legs dangling over the side.

Silence.

She couldn't find any words to say. For some odd reason, she wanted to hear him say that he didn't like Sakura romantically anymore. Reassurance was all she needed, even if she already knew he didn't.

"Something is wrong," the man stated, eyelids drooping as he looked at her back. From the day's events, he was worn out. Before he could sleep, he had to make sure his girlfriend was okay, though. With a small sigh, he scooted over and rested his hands on her shoulders, pulling her back to rest again his chest. "Hinata, what's wrong?"

Dark hair fell in front of the woman's face as she bowed her head so that he couldn't see her eyes. Meekly, she asked, "N-Naruto, you don't have f-feelings for her still, do you?"

Blue orbs widened in shock and his body stiffened. "W-What?" It hadn't exactly been what he was expecting. Once the initial startle passed, the man shook his head and let his muscles ease into relaxation. "Hinata, I don't have feelings for Sakura anymore. I'm over that, and I've moved on."

Reassured, she sunk willingly into the embrace and gave a soft exhale. "The way you were looking at her when we got there--"

"--was because one of my best friends had escaped death. She saved me and I saved her, it was only a smile of gratitude and happiness between two close friends." Letting his eyes flutter closed, blond hair brushed against Hinata's cheek as he rested his head on her shoulder. "I promise you, Hinata."

That statement meant a great deal to her. Naruto was very honest with his promises.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_Shk. Shk shk shk shk..._

Groaning, Sakura sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. After they had adjusted to being open and the amount of light, they were shifted in the direction of the noise.

_Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhk..._

Sasuke was sitting on the sand and leaning back against the wall, a kunai in one hand and a stick of bamboo in the other. Although he knew his companion was awake, he didn't raise his gaze to meet her's.

"What was that look for?" the man dead panned.

At first, Sakura was puzzled. What was he talking about? Seconds later, it hit her.

An icy silence filled the room when the male stopped carving. No sound could penetrate the walls that suddenly seemed to be icing over as their moods got colder and more bitter. A dull ache hit Sakura in her chest, and after moments, she was breathing heavily and her head was pounding.

_How could he assume such a thing_, Sakura sked herself. _After I admitted that I still loved him, after we kissed...after everything, he still has doubts_?

Without warning and without an answer, the woman slid off the bed and left the room in a hurry.

Sasuke set the bamboo down and raised a hand, rubbing his forehead. There was no doubt he had upset the kunoichi, but he didn't understand how he had so through a simple question. Was she upset that he doubted her feelings for him, or was she upset because she was torn between feelings for two people she deeply cared about? Sakura had always made it clear that she only had feelings for him, bu tnow that her and Naruto were close friends and relied on one another for a lot of stuff, sometimes he did have doubts that she only had romantic feelings for himself.

He didn't want to think that way. Naruto was with Hinata, and he and Sakura were kind of together. The other day he had even thought of one day having a _family_ with the pink-haired woman. And, with her smiling at him like she had been, it was almost as if she had thought the same thing. After that, he didn't want to feel the way he did. There was a dark feeling within him, twisting his insides in knots.

She expected him to trust her completely. Although the man wanted to, how could he ever put all his trust into someone after having so many people betray him and lie to him?

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. You have to have some rough spots in relationships, so here they are. But don't worry about them. ;] Please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks!


	19. Chapter 19

I am finally updating again! I know I was slow once again. I'm trying to stop doing that, but I'm a really busy person. Luckily, I had a break from school and got the chapter of this done! I would like to thank all of those people who still follow this story! You are what keeps me going, and I really appreciate you.

**Recap:** Naruto saves Sakura from being crushed by the enclosing walls in the cave. They are so happy and they give each other a merely friendly and joyful gaze. Sasuke and Hinata find them and demand to know what happened, so the two tell them. Both Sasuke and Hinata were slightly upset with how Naruto and Sakura were looking at each other because it almost seemed like it was in a more-than-friendly way. Sasuke carries Sakura back to the shelter, and Hinata walks with Naruto. Once back at the shelter, they each go into their rooms. Naruto senses something is wrong with Hinata and she mentions the look he and Sakura were giving each other. He explains that it meant nothing and he was just happy that one of his best friend's had escaped death and he promises it meant nothing. In Sasuke and Sakura's room, Sakura wakes up from a nap and finds Sasuke sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall, making a spear. Almost as soon as she wakes up, he asks what the look between her and Naruto was for and she knows he thinks she has romantic feelings for her blond friend. Angry and upset, Sakura doesn't answer and she storms out of the shelter and trudges into the forest.

I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

-Chapter Nineteen-

Why did this always happen to her? She would toughen up and keep a straight face for days, hold back her emotions, and seem like a strong person. Like a shell abruptly cracking and falling open, Sakura would always break out and let her emotions seep out, letting herself and everyone else know that she was still human and still emotional. Her strength was not a coverup for her weakness--it was genuine strength--but sometimes it was just too much to keep staying so strong.

Tears rained down on her face. There were many emotions mixing within her at that moment, too many for her to think logically and analyze the situation. Instead of attempting to calm down, she slapped back forest leaves and trudged deeper into the wilderness.

"I don't know why I even try anymore," she spit out to herself in a fit of anger. Although she said those words, she knew pefectly well why she still tried to get closer to Sasuke. _I love him._ The three words echoed at the back of her mind, reminding her why she still tried.

The anger seemed to drain right out of her after those three words presented themselves in her mind, and that emotion was replaced by helplessness. How could she make him see that he was the _only_ one? He always had been. Even when he had left to seek revenge.

It calmed her a bit to think about his personality, though. In some way, she had grown to understand the man and his personality, and she had grown to love it. Many people didn't understand, and didn't like his cold and flat-lined emotions. Then again, many people didn't look farther than the exterior. Sakura knew it was a challenge for Sasuke to trust people. Neither she nor Naruto had ever betrayed him, though. Shouldn't he at least give that fact some credit?

After turning in a few circles, the woman made her way back to the shelter, determined gaze trained ahead of her. Once she returned, she didn't hesitate to go back into the room she had stormed out of only minutes before.

"Sasuke," she said with a confident voice, which made her seem strong because there were still remains of weakness--the streaks from her tears--on her face. "I couldn't like someone else even if I tried. At first I was mad at you, but I know why you're so insecure, and I understand that. Naruto and I have never betrayed you, though, and I think you need to take that into consideration. We both love you, and we both would never hurt you purposely. It's true that I love Naruto, but it's not in the same way that I love you. Naruto one of my best friends, and he is like a brother to me, and he protects me. My love for you is completely different, and it's a whole other story in itself."

Their gazes locked, and silence fell between the two. Her unwavering and fierce emerald stare was reassuring to the man, and after a little while longer, he bowed his head. Now he knew...she had felt hurt by him considering the idea of her liking someone else when she had clearly expressed her love for him.

Giving a heavy sigh, mainly because she was relieved that she had gotten all of that off her chest, but also because the man hadn't answered, Sakura went over and sat down on the ground beside him. Unmoving, Sasuke continued to stare at the grains of sand beneath them.

After a second, the woman's heart sank a bit. Wasn't he going to respond in some fashion? Why was he doing absolutely nothing?

Slowly, she grabbed his hand and swung his arm up over her head and around her shoulders, letting his arm rest there as she scooted closer to the man. "I want you to believe me...I _need_ you to. If not...then..." Her head shook a bit; she was at a loss for the finishing words.

Sakura had been bold enough to pull a move such as that on him, with the arm situation and all. They weren't a couple, and open affection wasn't exactly off-limits, but he wasn't just offering it just for the hell of it. At that moment, though, he realized she needed some reassurance, just like he had. Her words rang true, and somewhere within him, he knew she meant what she said.

"I do," he mumbled, failing to meet her gaze because he was opening up a bit. After a moment, his arm around her tightened and she sunk into the half-embrace willingly.

xXxXxXxXxXxX

The two that had been accused of having something going on were sitting awkwardly around the fire pit. It was just them there, and they weren't talking. Every once in awhile, they would steal a glance at one another across the ashes.

"Did you get-"

"Questioned?" Sakura finished, an exasperated expression forming on her face. After Naruto nodded, she shook her head. "I can't believe they would think something like that. You are so over me, and I never thought of you that way. Why must we be so misunderstood? It will one day ruin the life and be the death of me."

With a laugh, Naruto leaned back and placed his palms on the sand, turning his face upward to look at the sky. "You're so dramatic, Sakura. At least they understand now. That's all that matters."

He was right. As long as everything was cleared up at that moment, then all was well. They were each getting more and more antsy and irritated as the days went on. Being on the island without a change of clothing and a real home and other people--actual civilization in general--was slowly driving them insane. Although they had each other, it seemed like too much to handle at times. There was friendships, romance and drama. It was exhausting.

The two found themselves started to close their eyes from sitting there in silence and taking in the sounds of the waves crashing along the shore. Once Sakura caught herself, she forced her eyes to stay open then looked over at her good friend.

"Where did Hinata and Sasuke go, anyways?"

It took a second for Naruto to come out of his sleepy state, but once he managed to do so, he replied, "They went to clean up somewhere in the lake in the middle of the forest."

Both of Sakura's eyebrows shot upward.

The blond waved his hands, using his stomach muscles to support himself as he continued leaning back a bit. "No, no...not together! Separately. Hinata left first and then Sasuke left a little while later. I don't think either knew the other was going."

Sakura then cringed. "That could be bad. They could accidentally bump into each other and...that would create a mess. Hinata would freak out, and Sasuke would freak out; it would just be really bad. I am going to go check up on Hinata to make sure nothing like that happens."

Thinking it was a good idea, Naruto nodded, placing his hands back on the sand and shutting his eyes again.

xXxXxXxXxXxX

The Hyuga woman hummed softly to herself as she sifted her hands through her long, wet locks. It was refreshing to be cleaning up. She had gotten something similar to a shower when it had rained, but that was mainly it. To be able to wash all the dirt off of herself felt good.

She was in a small pond, slumped down in the water deep enough that it covered everything up to her neck. The water was a deep blue; it was impossible to see past the surface, which was a bit disturbing at times because she would suddenly be afraid some type of exotic fish was going to attack her, or something poisonous would swim by her and she would accidentally run into it.

There was a small river that branched off of the pond and rounded a large rock that protruded from the side of a hill, probably leading to another pond or a bigger lake--the woman wasn't sure. She was near that part of the water, and she was thinking about rounding the bend and figuring out where the river led to, but she decided to get a little cleaner first.

After awhile, she stopped and stared at the river. Was there is swishing noise coming from somewhere behind that rock? It was bothering her, especially since she didn't know what could be making the noise.

A pearl gaze was trained on the corner of the rock, where the river rounded it. After a second, Sasuke appeared, shifting through the water.

Both froze, obviously shocked at the situation that was taking place. At least Hinata was covered, and at least Sasuke was far enough in the water to cover everything. If not, the situation would have been ten times worse.

Although she didn't have romantic feelings for Sasuke, she was still mortified, and she started to feel light-headed. Fainting was a state that was near, but she knew the result would be even worse. She could drown, but then again, she knew Sasuke wouldn't let that happen, and it would be even worse when he had to come over there and save her naked, fainted form.

Instead, she gained her composure and yelled, "What are you doing, Sasuke?" Boldness was one trait of Sakura's that had rubbed off a bit on her best friend after all the years of spending together. Hinata could be bold when she wanted to be--or needed to be, in most cases.

"I-I didn't know you were..." He looked as genuinely shocked as an Uchiha possibly could. "I'm leaving now." Quickly, he darted back around the bend, leaving the woman blushing ferociously.

It wasn't long before Sakura emerged from the foliage and waved at her best friend. A quizzical expression hit her face as she neared the edge of the water.

"You look flushed, Hinata. And...mortified." After saying that, Sakura tilted her head to the side, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly. "Please tell me Sasuke didn't-"

Water splashed slightly when Hinata's hand flew out of the pond and she held it up to stop Sakura from speaking. "I had no idea he was here, and he had no idea I was here. I...am completely in shock."

Sakura's eyes grew wide and all the color that she did have seemed to drain from her face. "Did either of you see anything?"

"No, thank goodness!" Hinata exclaimed, a bit frustrated that the event had even occurred in the first place.

Straightening herself, the pink-haired female started to stalk over toward the other side of the rock. She was determined to ask Sasuke what the hell he had been thinking. Of course, it had been an accident, but it was still irritating that something like that had to happen. How had she known it would? She had no idea. Why did her crush have to be so damn frustrating sometimes?

Once she had rounded the corner, she opened her mouth to call out, but she stopped dead in her tracks. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth first, but then slid up to her eyes. She had just seen Sasuke walk out of the water, but his back had been turned, so she luckily hadn't gotten the frontal view. That would have made matters worse. She had seen his stark-naked butt, though, and she wasn't going to complain. She actually wasn't going to admit she had seen anything. The woman was going to claim she hadn't seen anything at all.

With a hand still covering her eyes, she yelled, "Sasuke?" She could sense his gaze whip over to her. "I didn't see anything!" she exclaimed before anything else. "Umm...I just wanted to ask what the hell just happened with the situation with Hinata?"

Before she knew it, he was standing right in front of her, glaring down at her. "First of all, you suck at lying. Second of all, you're blushing." He had completely deadpanned all the information, sounding extremely irritated as he did so, but he kept his cool because it wasn't something he should completely make a big deal out of.

Slowly, she let her hand drop from her face, bowing her head a bit. The blush intensified a bit under his stare because he had obviously caught her.

After a second, she shook her head and looked him straight in the eye. "I didn't see anything." It sounded convincing enough, but he already knew better.

"Right. And you also don't have green eyes." He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms after a moment of awkward silence. "Just forget it. It's...not that big of a deal." Although, he kind of felt like it was. Being openly affectionate toward the woman he had feelings for was hard enough, and now his personal space had been invaded and she had seen what she wasn't supposed to? Hell no. That was a huge deal to him, although he had to act calm and collected because Sasuke Uchiha did not get freaked out easily. No way.

Biting her bottom lip, Sakura tried to hold back nervous laughs. A few of them could be heard as she suppressed them and muffled them. A second later, she leaned forward and rested her head against his folded arms as she opened her mouth and started to let the laughter out.

"I-I'm sorry," she managed to get out. Once the laughter had subsided for the most part, she drew away. Giving him a reassuring pat on the arm, she said, "It's okay, Sasuke. Please don't stay upset." Although he was acting like it was no big deal, she knew he was thinking otherwise. She had gotten so skilled at decoding the man that it came naturally to her now, and there were only a few occassions where she would have trouble.

An onyx glare was directed at her, causing her to swallow all the remaining laughs and her expression to morph into one of seriousness. "Okay, I'll forget about it. As best as I can." She glanced off to the side for a second. There was no way she could ever forget about it. "Anyways, you never answered my question. What happened with the situation with Hinata?"

Immediately, he had an answer. "I was washing off in this pond and I heard something on the other side of the rock. I went to see what it was, and there was Hinata. Of course something such as that had to happen to me, and then the situation following that..." He gave a sigh and shook his head, letting his arms loosen then drop to his sides. Life just hated him.

* * *

Yes...drama. You have to have some of that while stranded on an island. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please give me some feedback. I really enjoy it!


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: **Oh my goodness. I haven't updated this since last year in November of 2009. Shame on me. I have no real great excuse. I was a slacker, and I am sorry. I appreciate the support I am still getting for this story, though! Thank you so much! You guys are what kept me going, even if I didn't update for a really long time. I do want you to know, though, that this IS the last chapter. I'm going to be going off to college soon, and I don't want this left undone. I want to give you the last chapter.

**Recap: **Sasuke had been suspcious of Sakura and Naruto and he had thought they possibly had feelings for each other. Upset, Sakura ran off and cried, but she then went back to where Sasuke was sitting in the shelter and boldly told him that she only thought of Naruto as a friend and that she truly loved him and only him. She said she needed him to believe her. He admitted after this confession that he did believe her. Later, Naruto and Sakura are talking and he asks her if Sasuke questioned her about her feelings. After that conversation, they try to figure out where Hinata and Sasuke went, and then found out that both went to take a bath, not knowing the other one was going. Thinking it could be potential trouble, Sakura goes to check up on Hinata. With Hinata, she is bathing in an pond. Sasuke is bathing in a pond that is connected to the one she is bathing in by a small river that leads around a large, protruding rock. Sasuke investigates where the river leads and finds Hinata bathing. Neither of them see anything they shouldn't, but they are still freaked out about it. After Sasuke leaves, Sakura arrives and talks to Hinata about the situation. She then goes to talk to Sasuke about it, and approaches his pond at the wrong time. She see's his butt because he got out to put his clothes back on. She covers her eyes and tells him she didn't see anything, but he knows better and they talk about the situations before heading back to the beach for dinner.

* * *

-Chapter Twenty-

The four were all together around the fire. It was nearing nighttime and they had just finished eating some dinner. Hinata was leaning lightly against Naruto on one side of the fire and Sasuke and Sakura sat side-by-side on the other side. Silence lulled between them, the only noise the crackling and sputtering of the fire.

Shattering the silence, Hinata finally asked, "When do you think we'll be found?" The other three shook their heads. It was still hard to tell, but surely someone had figured out what had happened by now and was out looking for them. Right?

"I'd think that it won't be too much longer until someone finds us," Sakura spoke up, giving a reassuring nod across the fire at her best friend. A smile soon flitted across her features. "Kakashi would realize something wasn't right. We're like family to him since he has none of his own. It's like he thinks of us as his children..."

Naruto raised a blond eyebrow for a moment. "So, would the relationship between you and Sasuke be considered incest?"

The corners of Sakura's mouth soon fell and she gave him a weary look. The question wasn't even worth answering, and he had just been being silly in the first place and didn't particularly want an answer. Hinata stifled a laugh. Naruto's sense of humor was only one of the many things she loved about him. To others, it got fairly annoying and some people couldn't take it sometimes, but Hinata always had the will to deal with it. It was just...Naruto. And she loved Naruto.

Heaving a sigh and falling onto his back, the blond eyed the darkening sky. If someone found them and took them back to Konoha, then he would finally get to have some of his precious ramen. Oh, just thinking about it made his mouth water, even though he had just stuffed himself with the food they had collected. Sometimes they wouldn't eat much to save food if they were short on supply, but other times they had so much that they feasted. Tonight they had feasted.

"Are you guys..." he started, trying to find what he really wanted to say. "Are you guys kind of going to miss this place? I mean, we don't have to go on missions and we can do whatever we want and just hang out. I've kind of grown to like it here."

Hinata nodded slightly. "I will miss it a bit. It has been nice spending time with you all." A blush spread across her face when she thought about everything that had happened while they were on the island. All the good things that had happened to her definitely made up for the bad, in her opinion.

The pink-haired kunoichi let out a bitter laugh. "Hell no. I won't miss it a bit. I'll be glad to get back home and lay in an actual bed and take an actual shower. I feel filthy and uncomfortable here." Although she said all those things, part of her knew she really was going to miss spending all this quality time with her friends. Her lips curled at the corners after a minute. "It was quite the adventure, though."

"Hn." The Uchiha crossed his arms and smirked, not putting any comment in on the current conversation. He was itching to go on a mission and to train. That's the way it had been his whole life. He lived to train and go on missions and gain power. Even now, after he was back in Konoha and away from Orochimaru, training and becoming stronger was his main goal. That's what he had always wanted to do, and that would continue to be what he was going to do until he got old. Of course, there would be others things going on in his life at the same time -- especially now that he and Sakura had some sort of romantic relationship.

This journey had changed all of their lives. Now they knew what it was like to be on the brink of insanity. On a more positive note, though, they now knew about each other's romantic feelings and motives. The whole ordeal had brought them all closer together, no matter how many fights and misunderstandings there had been.

xXxXxXxXxXxX

The man's one visible eye widened. There was a glow of orange on an island in the distance. A fire? It had to be. That meant his former students were likely on that island. At least they had figured out how to manage living on an island for that long. It was a relief seeing a fire, since he knew it was a sure sign they were all okay.

"A fire," he pointed out to the ANBU, who had already spotted it and were heading towards that island.

Stiffly, the older man raised his hand into the air. "Naruto! Sasuke! Sakura!" He was about to stop there, but then he remembered that there was one more person. "Hinata!" He was unsure if they heard him, but he had been yelling fairly loud. The island was quite a ways off, though, but with their trained ninja hearing, it wouldn't have been hard for them to pick up the sound.

Back on the island, everyone scrambled to their feet, eyes trained on the boat nearing the island.

"It's Kakashi!" Sakura screeched, giddy with excitement. Both her and Naruto started to wave their arms in the air frantically as an enthusiastic greeting.

"Finally," Sasuke breathed, restraining the urge to roll his eyes.

The four stranded ninja left everything they had built and collected and traveled across the water using chakra in their feet. It hadn't been too long of a distance to cover, and they had recovered a lot of their energy from eating so much at dinner. All hopping onto the boat, the two hyper ninja latched onto the man, laughing with joy.

The silver-haired man was about to pat them both on the backs, but then he realized that they smelled terrible and wretched himself away from them, cringing.

"Aren't you happy to see us?" Naruto yelled, apalled at his actions.

The man nodded. "I am happy to see you all, but you smell. Save the hugs for after we get back and you all take showers."

Although they had bathed while they were on the island, they hadn't had any soap to use. Water just wasn't enough to make a stench disappear. Fortunately, they had all gotten used to it after being around each other for so long. They basically didn't even notice it now.

Hinata giggled a bit from the silver-haired ninja's reaction. The blond turned his affection elsewhere and tackled his girlfriend in a hug. "Hinata, we're going home! I get to eat _ramen_! My precious _ramen_!"

_Why isn't she fainting_, Kakashi asked himself, eyeing the two. That's what usually happened when Naruto made contact with her in any way. Hell, even when he _spoke_ to her, she nearly fainted.

With that, Naruto smashed his lips down on her's and kissed her passionately. It wasn't necessarily because he had been intending on doing that. It was more of an impulse that had taken over because of his excitement. It was only a matter of seconds before Hinata went limp in Naruto's arms.

"Hinata? Hinata!" The man shook her a bit, trying to get her to stir. "Hinata..."

Scratching the back of his head, Kakashi mumbled, "That was quite the shocker."

Sakura waved her hand in dismissal. "Not really. They've been going out for a little while now." His gaze flickered over to her questioningly. "He confessed that he liked her when we were on the island, and then she confessed, and they started going out."

"Naruto and Hinata..." he said, as if testing it on his tongue. "Interesting. Is there anything else I should know about?"

The woman pursed her lips together, glancing over at Sasuke. He gave her a sideways glance. Was she supposed to say something? Was she _not_ supposed to say something...? Kakashi was waiting for one of them to answer his question, and since he wasn't getting an answer right away, it made him a bit suspicious.

The female turned her green orbs back to their former teacher. "Well...no."

"Yes."

Shocked, she glanced over at Sasuke. Seriously?

"And what might that be, Sasuke?" Kakashi inquired, knowing Sasuke was always proud of what he had. If he had something, he liked to show it off. He was a man, and men liked to do that.

Without replying with words, he glared at Kakashi as he placed an arm around Sakura's waist. The glare was just daring him to say something about it.

The man gave a small chuckle. "I'm not surprised."

"Y-You're not?" Sakura stammered, blinking repeatedly and trying to process his statement. "I was."

There was a smirk forming from under the mask. "I figured it would happen sooner or later. You wouldn't let go of him, and he was looking for someone to hold on to."

"I was not," Sasuke said defensively. "You don't know anything about what I was looking for." Letting his arm fall away from the woman beside him, his glare intensified a bit. "I wasn't looking for anyone. It just happened."

"Meaning you just happened to realize your underlying feelings for her that you have had for awhile now."

Kakashi was starting to creep him out. For once, he didn't know how to retort because the man was right. Instead of fighting back, like he desperately wanted to, the turned his back to the man and crossed his arms, staring at the island they had just left.

The woman started to whine. "Kakashi, now you made him all pissy."

"He'll get over it."

The boat shifted direction, heading back towards Konoha. It would take a few days, but they would make it. Once they got there, it was obvious that the lives of the four younger ninja would be changed forever. They didn't have to be in a new place to start new adventures. They knew their relationships would bring enough new adventures to last them for awhile.

* * *

I do hope you all have enjoyed this story, and I do really appreciate the support! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) You've all been great.

EDIT: For all of you who are just now reading this, I have been talked into writing an epilogue! Please keep an alert on this story if you have an alert on it! Expect an epilogue. :)


	21. Epilogue

**Author's Note:** I realize that it has literally been forever since I've updated this. I hardly even know how to use this website anymore because so much has changed. Pharmacy school has taken over my life, but I had this written awhile ago and forgot to post it. Here is the epilogue, which I think is kind of lame compared to the actual story itself. I realize that a lot of people who have read this story when I was updating it frequently probably don't remember much that happened since it has been so long! I apologize for waiting so long to post the epilogue that a lot of you asked for. I know it's probably too late now. But for all of you who have read this story and followed it, thank you so much for all your support. I can't tell you how much it has meant to me to have amazing people supporting me. And to everyone who just now read this story through, thank you for reading it. I know the characters are OOC and there are things that have happened in the Naruto series that have not been included in my story. I started this story way before a lot of things happened in Naruto Shippuden, so just keep that in mind. Sorry if you don't remember everything, but I said I'd post the epilogue, and I know it has been a few years, but I'm posting it!

* * *

Naruto was off the boat in seconds and in Konoha, racing down the streets. "Ramen, ramen, ramen, ramen, _ramen_!" His three friends were trailing behind. They were glad to be home, but they weren't going to go rushing around and making fools of themselves, quite unlike Naruto was doing.

Konoha hadn't changed a bit. It was just the way they remembered it from when they had last been there. It was wonderful to be back home, but the looming feeling of failure of their mission was depressing. A great day being back home was dampened by this failure. It wasn't often that these elite ninja failed missions. It hadn't been like they had been given a chance to actually _try_ to successfully complete the mission, though. They hadn't really even started it. They had been on their way to start it. Still, it didn't matter. They still felt like they had failed no matter what.

They all went their separate ways, not really saying a farewell to one another. It was obvious they would see each other soon enough since they were all so close. Their minds were elsewhere, anyways...like on how they were going to go straight home and take showers.

Kakashi, trailing behind with his orange manga book pulled out, glanced up from it. A soft smile formed under his mask as he watched Naruto's figure getting progressively smaller as he hurried toward Ichiraku and as he watched Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata part ways. It was good to have them all home.

xXxXxXxXxXxX

Sighing, Naruto tucked his arms behind his head as he strolled along the streets of Konoha. There were a couple people following him, asking questions about what had happened while he had been stranded on the island with his friends. Just smiling, he left them all guessing what his journey had been like for a few minutes.

"Was it youthful and exciting?" Rock Lee asked, an edge of wonder in his voice. "I bet it was fantasic being with Sakura for that long and bonding!" The man with bushy eyebrows looked a bit star-struck. "I wish I could have been stranded on an island with her. We would have trained together and bonded. We would be the best of friends!"

Turning and walking backwards, the blond grinned at the group of people following him.

Neji Hyuga did not seem pleased. "How could you have let something happen to Hinata?" Without waiting for an answer, he snorted, arms crossed. "You didn't try anything, did you?"

Genuinely puzzled, Naruto tilted his head to the side, chuckling a bit. "What do you mean by that?"

"He means did you make any romantic moves on her while you were on the island, dumbass," Ino said, rolling her eyes and waving her hand. "Knowing you, I doubt it. You probably don't know how to be romantic at all."

The man glowered. "Do so. You can ask Hinata. We're dating now."

Neji advanced towards the man a bit faster, causing Naruto to start chuckling nervously and pick up his own pace. Everyone else that was following him seemed to hesitate with their walking, shocked at what he had just said. Naruto hadn't led anyone to believe he had liked Hinata before they had left for the mission. Now he was back, and they were suddenly dating? Naruto couldn't understand why they were all so surprised. Apparently everyone had known about Hinata's massive crush on him while he had been oblivious, so why were they all so bewildered? He must have not made it quite clear that he had gotten over Sakura. If it hadn't been clear before he left, it was definitely clear now.

Before Neji could catch up to the man, Hinata approached the group. Naruto was the first to take notice. Smiling, he reached a hand out towards her as he continued to walk backwards briskly, the mass of people still following.

"Hinata, we were just talking about you!" Naurto exclaimed, laughing. The woman lightly took his hand, blushing ferociously.

"Y-You were?" she stammered, not knowing if she should be insulted or flattered. It didn't really matter. The point was that people were paying attention to her and her new relationship.

xXxXxXxXxXxX

A year later...

xXxXxXxXxXxX

"Remember where we were about this time last year?" Hinata asked, glancing over at her best friend. The pink-haired woman rolled her eyes, heaving a sigh. It was interesting to think back to those days when they had been stranded on the island. Those had actually been slightly fun days, although also very frustrating. "Camping out in the shelter we built, hunting for food..."

Sakura frowned. "I miss Saru."

Her now husband-to-be, Sasuke, rolled his eyes. "You seriously miss that dumb monkey? You've got to be shitting me. Sakura, it's a _monkey_."

Pointing an index finger at herself, Sakura exclaimed, "That monkey _understood_ me."

Blue eyes widened as the blond standing beside Hinata made a creepy sound. "He could see into your _soul_..."

"Shut up. You're an idiot." Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura turned her head away from him. "You wouldn't understand. None of you ever connected with that monkey the way I did. He listened to me and understood what I was saying. He even stuck up for me."

The four started walking down the street together towards Ichiraku. Naruto slid an arm around Hinata's waist. The two were now a happily married couple, having been married for about a month and a half. Pearl-colored eyes flickered in his direction, a smile played across the woman's face. She couldn't be happier. She had waited so many years for Naruto to return her feelings, and now she was finally married to him and living a good life.


End file.
